When 26 year-old Douglas woman, Grace Teare, heard the news she had dreaded her immediate thoughts were not for herself they were for her young family. Grace had just been diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Grace lives with her partner Damon and their 2 year-old son Robbie. Apart from experiencing back pain from January which had required several trips to the doctor, everything with the family to that point had been going well. As all new parents do, they were enjoying watching Robbie develop and change on what seemed like a daily basis. Robbie was now walking and talking and developing his own unique personality. All that was now thrown into turmoil following the diagnosis, things from that point on would be very different for this young family.

In late June Grace learned the extent of her condition, the tumour doctors had discovered is inoperable and the cancer is in the third stage. Treatment will need to be undertaken at a specialist unit in Clatterbridge Hospital in the UK and will consist of a course of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy. The initial treatment is scheduled to take 8 weeks, and depending on progress could be extended to 12 weeks, Grace might be able to return to the Island to see her little boy Robbie and her partner Damon at the weekends but that will obviously depend on her physical condition to be able to make the trip. It is the thought of missing Robbie’s continuing development at this early stage of his life that is causing Grace most angst.

Fighting a terrible disease like cervical cancer is a daunting prospect on its own, but coupled with the responsibility for a 2 year-old toddler it becomes almost overwhelming. The family are having to make many adjustments to deal with their situation, not least of which is the care for Robbie. To accommodate this Damon has taken an unpaid 12 week leave of absence from his job. Of course this means things will be very tight for the family financially but it is the thought of not seeing Robbie for extended periods that is tormenting for this courageous young lady.

The Isle of Man Health Services have been very supportive and will offer some financial assistance to the young family in order to facilitate Damon and Robbie travelling to the Wirral to see Grace but as with anything there is a limited budget. In recognition of this and considering that it is unlikely Grace will be well enough to travel back to the Island on a frequent basis Grace has decide to ask the public for help.

Grace has launched a fundraising campaign on local crowdfunding website www.letscrowdit.com which enables individuals or groups to promote and manage their fundraising campaigns online. Grace said, “When I heard about Nicole and her new website I thought it was a good way for me to try to take my fundraising efforts to a wider audience, and at the same time be comforted by the fact that the donations will be managed securely by lets crowd it which takes another worry off my mind”.

Grace has set a target of ?3,000 to cover the additional costs not funded by the Isle of Man Government to enable Damon and Robbie to travel over to the UK and stay in a hotel near Grace every weekend throughout her treatment. Grace has also committed to help other families in a similar situation by passing any donations received above the target to a local charity to support others like her who need to travel away for treatment. When asked about her concerns at this difficult time Grace replied, “Of course I am worried about the treatment and how well that will go, but what hurts most is the thought of not being with the most important people in my life at the most difficult time of my life, Robbie means the world to me and being apart from him will be the hardest thing”.

Nicole Bodell of Lets Crowd It said, “When Grace contacted us with her moving story we were delighted to be able to help, we also took the decision to waive our normal commission on this and any future campaigns for charitable causes to help fundraises maximise their efforts”.

If you would like to support Grace donations can be made to her campaign via PayPal or Debit/Credit Card through her project page, “The challenge of my life”, at www.letscrowdit.com

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