On Thursday, 18 July, after a year and a half of battling cancer, Ilga’s mum found peace. I’m raising funds to support the family with the last medical bill, transportation, and funeral costs. For more details, please visit Ilga’s GoFundMe page.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-mums-fight-medical-fund

In 2022, My friend Ilga's family was forced to leave their home in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and move to Latvia due to the ongoing war. After arriving, having already undergone so many difficulties, her mother was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer.

Since January 2024, she has been an inpatient at the hospital, relying on intravenous nutrition, medication, and blood transfusions to survive. She underwent 30 rounds of chemotherapy and seven immunotherapy sessions but also, unfortunately, suffered several haemorrhages. She was too weak to be transported anywhere, and each day in the hospital came with a high cost.

I hope to make a small difference by raising funds for her family by participating in two 6k long-distance swims, the world-famous Bantham Swoosh in Devon on 6 July, followed by the Bosphorus in Turkey between the Asian and European continents.

The Bantham Swoosh is a charity fundraising event, so £150 will be donated to the organisers, Level Water, for 1-1 swimming lessons for children with disabilities across the UK, and the rest will go directly to Ilga's family.

I appreciate any support you can offer by donating or sharing this page.

Thank you x