In 2015, Kelly Read, at the age of 34 was diagnosed with ocular melanoma. She was pregnant with her second child and fearful about what it meant. Under the care of a great medical team in London (funded through private health insurance organised through work) the cancer in her eye was treated swiftly, her eye was removed and Isabelle was born healthy. At the time of her initial diagnosis Kelly was told it may spread to her liver and become terminal, sadly this is what has happened.

Kelly has been on a rollercoaster ride for the past four years undergoing treatments to keep the cancer at bay. Whilst the insurance company has funded treatment, she had a bad reaction at the start of this year which resulted in her being in a coma for days and now has limited treatment options going forward. Her consultant has recommended she have a one off treatment of SIRT (Selective Internal Radiation Therapy) to stem the growth of the cancer so she is eligible to start a new trial treatment, Delcath, in 5 weeks time. People receiving this treatment in the USA are still living, so the impact of this treatment is impressive! Kelly has been told that without SIRT the cancer will have grown too much and she will be out of options. As if facing the situation isn’t hard enough, the insurance company are refusing to pay the £30,000 treatment as the cancer is too rare to have been identified in the NICE guidelines for SIRT. Crazily if her cancer had started elsewhere she would be funded to have SIRT!

The clock is ticking; she has a narrow window left to have a chance to get on the only treatment trial that could help. Imagine being told there is one chance left and it needs to happen now or you won’t live long enough to spend Christmas with your children. This is the reality Kelly is facing. Without this treatment Kelly is facing leaving behind a loving husband and two wonderful children, Lucas (5) and Isabelle (3). It’s heartbreaking to know with this treatment she has a chance to have a couple more years with her family and without it she will not see Christmas. Her family means the world to her; please help give her a chance to be part of their lives for as long as possible. Every pound will help. Thank you so much.