Family hope to fund Kilmovee mum’s treatment

FAMILY Laura Cafferty is pictured with her husband Karl and baby daughter Maya.

Anton McNulty

THE husband of a young Kilmovee mother of one who has been given two years to live due to a rare cancer has praised the generosity of people who have donated money for alternative treatments.
Laura Cafferty (34) was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of soft-tissue cancer that only affects six in one million women, after doctors found a tumour in her leg last March.
The Kilmovee-native, who lives and works as a spa manager in Jersey in the Channel Islands, also suffers from multiple sclerosis. She received the cancer diagnosis not long after she had given birth to her first child, Maya.
Laura initially received treatment in Southampton, and it was there that she learned the tumour in her leg had grown and the cancer had spread to her pelvis and back. She has now been told that she has two years to live, and that there is no further treatment available on the NHS.
Not willing to stand by and do nothing, Laura’s family have identified alternative treatments at specialist centres in Germany, Mexico and America, and a Go Fund Me page has been set up to help fund the treatment. To date, the page has received 1,227 donations and raised €66,611. Its goal is set at €150,000.
Her husband, Karl, who is originally from Charlestown and works as an electrician in Jersey, is extremely thankful. “I am overwhelmed by the generosity and support, and I really can’t thank people enough. All of this support is giving my family the opportunity to look forward to the future,” he said.
The couple, who married in May 2015, have been together for over 12 years and lived for a period in Charlestown. Despite Laura’s MS, they have lived life to the full, moving to Toronto for a few years before moving to Jersey.
A number of fundraising events are due to take place in Jersey and Ireland in the coming months. More information is available on the Facebook page, Laura’s fight against cancer. The Go Fund Me page is www.gofundme.com/lauras-fight-cancer-fund.