Dear colleagues, friends, family and supporters,

We are reaching out to you with heavy hearts and a plea for support. Luke Kendal's sister Melissa, was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer back in May 2023.

Melissa is only 38 years old, a wife, daughter, sister and a mother to Grace her 7-year-old daughter. With no prior symptoms she suddenly experienced severe abdominal pain, which led to a trip to A&E. It was here they discovered a large tumour in her bowel which had perforated. The cancer had also spread to her liver, with multiple large lesions.

After being rushed into emergency surgery to save her life, she has now been left with a permanent stoma due to the large amount of bowel removed. She started a course of twelve chemotherapy treatments in July 2023 which has shrunk the tumours in the liver. Although this is incredible news, she has recently been advised by the oncologist that surgery on the liver is not an option, unfortunately, this means she would have to stay on maintenance chemotherapy for the remainder of her life.

This news, as you can imagine, was a huge blow to Luke, his family and friend, who try to remain strong and stay positive, with the aim of the cancer going into remission.

Chemotherapy is extremely toxic to the body and the worry is that the damage caused will be severe. Stage 4 cancer has a high recurrence rate, even though initial treatment has shown promising results, stopping treatment completely is not an option.

She is in desperate need of expensive dendritic vaccine treatment, this treatment is not available on the NHS or even in the UK, it’s currently only available privately and in Germany.

This treatment has a 60% success rate for stage four cancer but comes at a massive cost. £100,000 is a conservative estimate of the total cost of treatment.

In an effort to support her journey towards recovery, we have set up this GoFundMe page with the target of raising £20,000 to go directly towards Melissa's medical treatment, she has already raised over £7,000 of her £60,000 target, your generosity can make a direct and meaningful difference in her fight against her illness.

On the 18th May 2024, the Barratt East London team will be tackling the West London (10+ mile 20+ obstacle) Tough Mudder challenge. The fearless team will be diving into the mud, overcoming obstacles, testing strength, stamina, mental grit and risk getting electrocuted with over 10,000 volts of electricity to raise funds for Melissa's treatment

If you are able and willing to contribute, any amount, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated

With heartfelt gratitude,

The Barratt East London Team