Funeral Expenses for Lesley Perowne

Hi there,

My name is Luca and I am raising money to help pay for Lesley Perowne's funeral.

Earlier this year Lesley was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer. We were all understandably devastated, including my brother and Lesley's partner, Giuseppe, and 17 year old daughter, Mia.

Despite the worry, we all tried our best to stay hopeful and trust that the planned chemotherapy and radiotherapy would be successful in treating the cancer.

The chemotherapy however was unsuccessful and had to be stopped quite early on due to complications which lead to Lesley going into Kidney failure. She pushed on with the radiotherapy however, and as difficult and painful as it was, completed the course.

Following treatment, Lesley had further problems with nausea, sickness and her kidneys/ blood levels were just not right, which resulted in multiple hospital stays.

Despite struggles, we received a phone call from Lesley the other week, saying that she had good news and that following a scan, the cancer appeared to be shrinking, and that she could feel her throat finally opening up. As a result of the cancer Lesley couldn't eat or even swallow her Saliva. She had to be fed via a direct feeding tube, through a rig into her stomach.

Lesley sounded genuinely elated when she called and when I asked how she felt, she said "really good actually, loads better today". My brother and Mia cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate and were given a moment of peace in an otherwise torturous year.

However within days of this news, Lesley's health deteriorated. My brother became very concerned and called for an ambulance - Lesley was admitted to hospital. They identified a chest infection and a clot on her lung. Within days she died. We are yet unsure exactly of the cause of death and are awaiting a coroner's report.

Despite the seriousness of Lesley's condition, this has still come as a awful shock and it has dashed our hopes of a future with Lesley as a wife to my brother, mother to Mia and beloved family member and friend to us all.

This has been a hellish year for the family, and has been especially difficult for Giuseppe and Mia.

As Lesley couldn't work and Giuseppe had to remain off work for obvious reasons, including his own health issues, their financial situation has become untenable.

We are currently trying to help Giuseppe and Mia get through this emotionally, but also financially as best as possible, but it's difficult.

As is often the case when someone dies unexpectedly, financial burden can exacerbate a situation and essentially add insult to injury for those closest, who are left behind.

May I ask for anyone who knew Lesley, to come forward and donate even the smallest amount to help raise money for her funeral.

Giuseppe and Mia don't want anything extravagant (and anyone who knew Lesley well would understand that she wouldn't want a big fuss), but just enough to give Lesley a dignified and memorable send off.

When I visited Lesley at hospital a couple of months ago with Giuseppe and Mia, we sat in the car park and planned in our heads for the future. Lesley said something like "In a few months, we can all get away somewhere and have a good laugh, forget about all this silliness!"

I hope you're somewhere special Les. Pour yourself a glass of red and we'll all be there with you soon enough, for that family getaway.

We all love and miss you dearly. Xxxxxxx