Our lovely Mel: Caring and devoted mother of four

Mel is a loving and devoted daughter, sister, auntie, wife, and mother of four children: Dylan, aged 22, Reece, 19, Paige, 16, and her youngest son Casey who only recently turned six, and in his own words tells her every day “Mummy, you are my best friend and the best mummy in the world” .

She had been suffering painful headaches for weeks, which were dismissed by her GP as nothing serious, before asking to be given a CT scan.

The terrifying cancer diagnosis

The results were terrifying. Our world was shattered when we were given the heart breaking news that they had found a tumour, the size of a golf ball, on the right hand side of her brain.

Mel took a terrible turn for the worse the next day. She was violently sick, suffered crippling headaches and numbness, and had to be rushed in for emergency brain surgery.

On the morning of the operation, she was told by the surgeon that the tumour was larger than they first thought and “at this stage, all we can do is to try and prolong your life".

She has a grade IV Glioblastomer Multiforme Brain Tumour which is extremely aggressive. It was, as far as the NHS was concerned, terminal.

Mel couldn't comprehend what she had just been told at first and mumbled "what do you mean, prolong my life? I have a five year old little boy and three other children, who all need their mummy".

She recovered well from the surgery, but only 85% of the tumour could be removed, so she's had radiotherapy and is bravely enduring 12 gruelling cycles of chemotherapy.

We are a really close-knit family and have been gobsmacked and devastated by the diagnosis and what Mel has been through since. This is something you cannot ever prepare yourself for, but we’ve vowed to do everything and anything we can to help her.

Real hope: The groundbreaking treatment only available in Germany

There is now real hope. Mel can be treated with groundbreaking immunotherapy at Hallwang Clinic in Germany, which is not available in the UK. They saved the life of another British mum, Gemma Nuttall , who was given the worst possible cancer diagnosis but is now cancer-free.

The treatment will cost £200,000, which is why we have launched this appeal.

Help us raise the money needed to save Mel's life

We’ve got off and running with everything from an Elvis-themed fundraising night, raffles, and collection boxes returned full of generous donations from local shopkeepers, to a slush puppy sale and sponsored cycle ride run by her nephew Cameron.

There’s still a very long way to go though, so any donations or fundraising ideas would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you to each and every one of you who has donated so far. We are truly grateful.