Dear friends and family.

I am writing to you to all to ask for your support. Sadly at the ripe old age of 33 my best friend’s wife, Javiera, has found out that she has skin/liver cancer. Cristobal and Javiera are just starting out in life with their 7month old son Luciano. Although in the UK, the NHS isn’t perfect, the health system in Chile is a joke; people literally die waiting to be seen by a doctor. For this reason many people in Chile have private healthcare. However, because Javiera already had cancer (when she was 19 yrs old) the insurance company will not cover any of her treatment.

The only therapy that she has been offered is immunotherapy, which consists of 4 injections in total, once every two weeks. Each injection costs approximately £4,500. This therapy boosts the immune system so that her body can fight the cancerous cells. Fortunately she has found a charity that will pay for her second and fourth injection. This brings the total for this treatment to around £9,000 (plus radiotherapy £1,800 approx. and other medical costs). Here in Chile we are fundraising like mad, however with the minimum wage a measly £300 per month and the average salary around £600 it is proving to be a slow process.

As well as the energy needed to go through treatment and the energy needed to endure pain it is heartbreaking watching my friends spend most of their time worrying about money. I was wondering if any of you want to and are able to donate money to Javiera to support her treatment. I don’t like asking for money in this way, but I see everyone running around trying to raise funds here in Chile and it isn’t happening quickly enough as her treatment needed to start ‘yesterday’. Anyway thank you for reading this and I will be eternally grateful for any donations made. I will also send Javiera any messages of support that you send which I am sure will boost her energy levels and get back some of her fight.

Thanks again,
Helen