My name is Andrew, and I'm fundraising for my wife, Nicola. She's 43, mum to Rebecca, Rachel and Hope, and the heart of our family.

Nicola has been diagnosed with FATWO, a one-in-a-billion cancer. Only around 150 cases have ever been recorded in the whole world. That's about three women a year, worldwide. Most doctors will never see one, and most of Nicola's hadn't. It's a diagnosis no family is ever prepared to hear.

Watch Nicola's two-minute film at livingwithfatwo.com

Just how rare is FATWO?

- A one-in-a-billion cancer: about 1 in 1.4 billion women a year

- Only around 150 cases recorded since it was first described in 1973

- Rarer than being struck by lightning or winning the EuroMillions

- Far rarer than what doctors call "ultra-rare"

- No clinical trials and no standard treatment, because there have never been enough patients to study

- Fewer than 1 in 5 ever come back after surgery. Nicola's has.

Who Nicola is

Nicola is the one who worries about everyone else, even now. She loved her job as a classroom assistant and has poured her heart into Kenya for years, serving children and families there. She's funny, stubborn in the best way, and her faith carries her. Through all of this, she gets up every single day for her girls.

What's happened

For months, Nicola lived with constant pain, exhaustion and weight loss. She was told it was early menopause, then anxiety, while she kept going back for answers. When a scan finally found a very large growth, she had major surgery in February 2025, and a long recovery.

We hoped that was the end. It wasn't. This year Nicola found new lumps, and in September an MRI confirmed the cancer had come back, at the top of her pelvis and on her liver, close to her heart and bowel. Surgery and targeted radiotherapy have been ruled out. On 13 October, Nicola started chemotherapy.

Our hearts are broken. But Nicola isn't giving up, and neither are we.

In Nicola's words

"I'm completely blown away by the support. Treatment has started. Don't get me wrong, it's scary, but I'm going to fight this. I trust the Lord to be with me and walk alongside me. We've got this."

Already, you've opened doors

In one week, specialists in Belfast, New York, Virginia and Toronto offered to look at Nicola's case, and we've been put in touch with two other women living with FATWO. For a cancer this rare, that's something we never expected. Now we need to follow these doors through.

What your donation will pay for

- Second opinions from cancer specialists who know rare gynaecological cancers

- Specialist tumour testing that could show whether any targeted treatment might work

- Travel to meet doctors, researchers and other women with FATWO

- Treatments that ease pain and help Nicola live as well as possible

- Support for the girls: keeping routines going, making memories, and any help they need now and later

- Taking the girls to Kenya with Nicola when her doctors say it's safe

This is about giving Nicola every possible option. It isn't a promise of a cure.

Why we're asking

We had life insurance so that, if this day ever came, we could do exactly these things. Because of a problem with the policy, that cover is gone. So we're asking the people who care about Nicola to stand with us.

The £5 Challenge

Give £5, share this page, and ask five friends to do the same. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a real difference. You can also choose to give monthly when you donate.

If you can't give, please share. With a one-in-a-billion cancer, the person who knows something about FATWO could be anywhere, and your share might be the one that reaches them. If you're a patient, family member, doctor or researcher who has come across FATWO, please message us on Facebook (Nicola's Story) or use the Contact button on this page.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading Nicola's story and for standing with our family.

Andrew & Nicola Crymble