MUM RACES TO RAISE £625,000 FOR HER TWO-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER AFTER DOCTORS SAY HER CANCER IS NOW TERMINAL

Alicia Rickman is desperately trying to raise £625,000 for her two-year-old daughter Betty after doctors told the family that her cancer is now terminal.

Yet to strangers, little Betty looks like any other happy, energetic toddler. Her mum says you would never know the little girl has been through months of intense treatment and continues to face a devastating diagnosis.

Betty was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in July after developing a temperature that lasted for 10 days. She stopped eating and drinking, became pale and unusually sleepy, and her nursery staff noticed she was not herself.

After several visits to doctors, blood tests revealed dangerously low levels that raised concerns about cancer. Scans then confirmed the diagnosis.

Betty went through eight rounds of rapid chemotherapy, further chemotherapy and immunotherapy, stem cell harvesting, surgery and 12 sessions of radiotherapy involving her brain, spine and abdomen.

In July, her abdominal tumour also haemorrhaged, causing a major medical emergency that left Betty on a ventilator and fighting for her life.

Alicia recalled: “One minute she was sat up watching nursery rhymes in the hospital, the next minute she was on a ventilator. It didn’t feel real.”

Despite everything, a later scan showed no active neuroblastoma cells in her body.

But the family’s relief did not last.

Further scans later revealed that the cancer had progressed as leptomeningeal disease, affecting the fluid surrounding her brain, as well as areas including her right knee, diaphragm and bone marrow.

Doctors have now told Alicia and Betty’s dad, Kelvin Gale, 33, that they no longer believe they can cure her with the treatment currently available through the NHS.

But her parents refuse to give up hope.

The family is trying to raise £625,000 to take Betty to SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital in Spain, where they hope she can receive a treatment known as RIST alongside immunotherapy and continue taking lorlatinib, which targets an ALK mutation she carries.

Alicia said: “We want to get her into remission and cured. Raising the money would mean everything. It would be a chance for my daughter to live. It feels so wrong we’re putting a price on that.”

The fundraiser has so far raised around £16,000, but the family needs help reaching its huge target.

Through it all, Betty remains a bubbly and loving little girl who adores Bluey, Peppa Pig and Miss Rachel.

“She’s the most fun-loving, kind and funny kid I’ve ever known,” Alicia said. “Betty just loves the world so much. She cares so deeply for everything and everyone.”

For Alicia, her daughter’s smile remains the biggest reason to keep going.

“Betty’s strength, determination and her smile, she is the reason I wake up in the morning and keep fighting. She was my miracle and I hope with all my heart she carries on with that same strength.”

Source: The Mirror