A police officer from Hounslow who has been given less than two years to live after being diagnosed with breast cancer is fundraising to prolong her life for the sake of her five-year-old daughter.
Mum-of-one Jade Goffin has been told she won't live to see her daughter Eva's eighth birthday after being diagnosed with 3c triple negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
After being diagnosed in February 2017 and undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, the 30-year-old was given the all clear and started back at work for the Metropolitan Police in January.
However, in late May this year Jade began suffering from a persistent headache and a CT scan soon revealed that she was now suffering from seven metastatic brain tumours.
Due to the location and number of tumours, Jade was told surgery to remove them is not an option in the UK. Now, she and her family are desperately trying to raise funds needed for treatment in the US.
Jade, who is married to fitness instructor Gareth, said the potentially life-saving treatment, which can be done in New York and North Carolina, would mean everything to her family.
Speaking to getwestlondon , the Hounslow police officer said: “I've had to give up work, I can't drive. I've always worked and it's really hard not being able to do what I love.
“The treatment would mean everything to me and my family, the last 18 months have been rubbish. It has been one thing after another and just when I thought it was over it's come back but worse.
“I thought that I'd done all of that hard work and got through it last year, but to be hit with this so soon is absolutely awful. As it's triple negative, it's really aggressive and there's not as much research into it. America has trials going on that we don't have access to here.
“A successful treatment would mean I get to see my little girl grow up. I know there's no cure, but there's a lot out there that can give me more than the two years I've been given.”
The family have opened a JustGiving page in order to raise the £250,000 needed for the treatment. Nearly £17,500 has been raised in just five days.
As well as fundraising, the 30-year-old is also trying to raise awareness of the rare form of cancer , which generally affects younger women.
Jade's mum Helen Rayner, 53, who runs The Sun pub in Hounslow , said the money “would mean Jade's life” and asked people to donate to help save her daughter.
She said: “I will never forget the day Jade and Gareth sat me down to tell me the devastating news. To say it has massively altered our lives as a family is a gross understatement.
“After the initial shock of being told my darling daughter is going to die, I had to give myself a serious reality check and start the fight against the UK's prognosis.
“I look at my five-year-old granddaughter and I know that as long as I have breath I have a purpose. That purpose is to make sure Jade is at her daughter's 16th birthday party - 11 years from now.
“Jade needs to watch her grow up. I refuse to accept the diagnosis in England when in the US they're saving lives by going above and beyond what public and private healthcare here is doing.
“At first the diagnosis truly devastated all of us but now we're finding the bite to not accept the death sentence and get Jade to where they're going to save, or at least prolong, her life.”
She added: “In the UK Jade has been given 12-24 months to live, yet in the USA, with the right treatment, people are living for many years with their cancer being classed as dead or sleeping.
“We met with a young woman from the UK who 10 years ago was also given two years to live by doctors in the UK and, like us, her parents refused to accept the prognosis and took her to the USA for treatment.
“She's is now married with a daughter. She has no idea if her cancer is dead or sleeping, but she's still here.”
To donate to help Jade afford the potentially life-saving treatment, click here . Donations will also be accepted at The Sun pub, in Hanworth Road.
Click here to find out more about triple negative breast cancer.
