This Dublin teen is on a mission to raise the funds his mother urgently needs for her cancer treatment.
15-year-old Vincent from Balbriggan has appealed to the general public to help raise the €120,000 that his mother Yana will need to undergo additional treatment for her cervical cancer.
42-year-old Yana Neverene was diagnosed with cervical cancer last September and despite two rounds of chemotherapy, cancer has now spread to her lymph nodes.
Yana now requires expensive immunotherapy treatment, the same kind that has been used to treat CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan.
The mum set up a GoFundMe page and wrote;
“My Doctors have told me that a possible option for treatment would be to seek access to a PD-1 inhibitor such as Pembrolizumab. This drug is not yet approved in Europe or Ireland. It costs approx €6000 a dose and is given 3 weekly for an indefinite period depending on response to the drug. The Health Service Executive in Ireland will not fund this treatment for me.”
Since setting up the page 12 days ago they have raise €10,748 but they still have a long way to go.
Vincent is worried that if they don’t raise the funds they need that he will lose his mother.
The teen made a heartbreaking plea on Youtube;
“My mum is a big part of my life. She taught me to be determined and kind through her multiple charity work, creating dresses for less fortunate people.
But now she needs your help.Immunotherapy is our last chance.
Please help my mam get treatment and become healthy again.”
Despite the challenges they have faced the pair are continuing to fight for the ability to get Yana the treatment that she needs;
“I am a young woman who wants nothing more than to be healthy and at home with my precious son, my family and my friends. I love my life. I will continue to fight with every breath in my body.
I have to keep fighting for Vincent.”
My heart goes out to Yana, and as a mother myself as I can’t imagine the worry she must be going through, thinking that she might not be around to watch her son grow up.
If you would like to help Vincent and Yana’s cause you can by visiting their fundraising page.
