"MY son isn't ready to lose his mum" - the fighting words of a woman with terminal cancer who needs to undergo treatment to extend her life.
Beth Walsh, of Bath Road, needs to have three to four rounds of chemosaturation, also known as Delcath, to extend her life which costs £40,000 per treatment.
The 49-year-old's life was turned upside down after she was diagnosed with a ‘liver-dominant metastatic ocular melanoma’ in 2020.
It is a secondary liver cancer arising from a very rare form of primary cancer of the eye called ocular melanoma with led to Mrs Walsh having an eye removed.
Mrs Walsh has one very important reason behind her fight for life - her son Alfie.
"I have a 14-year-old son and my main reason is him.
"He's not ready to lose his mum."
The treatment is a way of treating liver metastases by delivering chemotherapy specifically to the liver – reducing side effects and allowing the liver to be ‘saturated’ with the relevant drugs.
It is not available on the NHS but was approved by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in April 2021 on the basis of its record as a safe and efficacious treatment in terms of overall and symptom-free survival.
Her family has already funded the first round of treatment which she will undergo on Tuesday, March 29.
Friends quickly formed Beth's Army to help her with the mammoth task of raising the money.
"It's amazing. Sometimes I wonder what I've done to deserve all this love and support.
"I am really grateful.
"I found losing my mum last year harder [than getting the diagnosis] because it was a shock and she was such a big support.
"But I have an amazing circle of friends and family around me."
Best friend Bev Bevan, who runs Worcester Theatre Makers alongside Mrs Walsh, has organised a fundraising disco with DJ Ed Steelefox.
Mrs Bevan, from Rushwick, said: "I have known Beth since the 90s, we are best friends and the thought of her not being around is inconceivable.
"She's just the absolute best, she's incredible and over the years I have learned so much just from being her friend.
"I was racking my brain for ages to think what I could do and realised music is her heart and soul, she loves music."
Mr Steelefox said: "Beth has always been the life and soul of the party and one of the first on the dancefloor every time.
"Not long after I met her she had a 'musical hero' party and absolutely rocked it dressed as her idol Madonna.
"She has fantastic taste so it'll be a pleasure to mix all her favourite tunes for her."
Beth's Army: Funky Fundraising Disco with Ed Steelefox will take place on Friday, April 8 from 8pm at The Marr's Bar, Pierpoint Street.
Tickets, costing £10, are available from https://www.wegottickets.com/event/537139.
To donate towards the treatment, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/gofundmecomfBeths-Army.
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