Cancer patient Lynn Fortunelli wants to be there for her daughter's wedding but needs life saving treatment in Germany
00:00, 17 November 2016
updated: 15:57, 17 November 2016
A daughter whose mum has cancer is hoping to raise thousands of pounds so she can make it to her wedding.
Sophie Fortunelli, 27, is hoping to raise £250,000 for her mum, Lynn, who was given the news her breast cancer had returned for the third time.
Sophie, from Collington Close, Gravesend is getting married in April next year to Chris Mutti, 28, and wants her mother to be there for her special day.
Video: Mum needs life saving cancer treatment
Lynn, 51, said: “I want to be here, if I’m not fit I’ll go but I just want to actually be here.”
Sophie said: “It’s keeping us going, a few people asked if we were going to change the date of our wedding but I said no because that’s giving up hope.
“I’m not giving up hope, Mum will be here for my wedding.”
Lynn, 51, who is mother of three was first diagnosed in 2011 but in June this year was told it was back and had spread to her lymph nodes.
But the immunotherapy she needs is not available to her in the UK and she has had to travel to Germany to have the life-saving treatment.
Although they have raised more than £60,000 since the page was set up in July, Lynn has still had to remortgage the family home in Belvedere to afford the treatment.
Sophie said: “I tried every hospital in London and all they could offer was conventional chemotherapy.
“And then I found the Hallwang clinic in Germany and they have had some great success rates.
“They have made a treatment plan specific to mum's cancer so she’s not just put under the cancer umbrella.”
The drugs Lynn needs to fight the cancer can be available as part of a clinical trial in the UK but there is a chance she would be given a placebo instead.
The Hallwang clinic in Germany is a private oncology clinic, Lynn has been there three times so far and is hoping to head back there next week if they can find the funds.
Sophie said: “Obviously this has come to a huge cost, the testing of the tumour tissue itself was 13,000 euros.”
Although they need more money to keep the treatment going, they have been blown away by the support received so far.
Sophie said: “Within a week we had over £20,000 just from family and friends sharing it on social media.
“We can’t thank people enough, the support we’ve been receiving has been overwhelming.”
