Worksop mum in 'race against time' to raise vital funds for cancer treatment
A Worksop mum's stoic fight for life after her terminal cancer diagnosis has taken a dramatic turn as she tries desperately to raise £120,000 for a treatment abroad.
Claire Creighton, 40, has no more treatments available to her in this country, following the metastatisation of her melanoma to organs including her lungs and liver.
The Christie Centre in Manchester, where she is currently undergoing immunotherapy trials, has searched options for her, and her only hope currently is an immunotherapy known as tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte.
Claire, who with husband Dan, has two young daughters, has raised over £38,000 so far, in a fundraiser to support her fight for time.
Dan, 39, has raised almost £6,000 to date in his own desperate bid to help his courageous wife, by undertaking six gruelling challenges, one of which he completed in Worksop last month - a six hour continuous run.
He said of his wife’s condition: “There are so many lumps appearing you can’t help thinking it’s not working.
"They say it’s early doors but time is ticking, it’s getting worse and worse and the goal seems so far away but they’ve had some really good success rates for melanoma in Tel Aviv.
“There have been people at Claire’s stage who have fought it and got over it (after being treated) so it seems like the last option for us really.”
Dan's next challenges include a 20-mile hike over Edale carrying 30 kilos, a 24-hour peloton ride and a five-mile swim.
His final challenge will be 24 hours in complete isolation, with water only, and blindfolded, in a bid to 'feel just a fraction of what my wife has experienced through her illness."
The couple want to raise more awareness about skin cancer, that for Claire, started with a simple mole on her shin.
Within seven months she was diagnosed with a stage two melanoma, and by March this year, the cancer had spread to her lungs, stomach, neck and jaw.
She has said throughout that "the hardest part of it all is wanting to protect the children".
To help the couple raise the vital funds they need for treatment for Claire, visit Claire's page at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fight-for-time
and Dan's at https://tinyurl.com/27e29mxz