Fundraisers from Burnham-On-Sea who took part in a ‘Running Man’ dance-off to have helped towards raising £70,000 to send a Bristol paramedic for potentially life-saving treatment.
Cancer sufferer Kath Osmond will now be able to travel to Manchester to begin the pioneering treatment, which is not covered by the NHS.
Just over £10,000 of the target amount was raised by paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service donating one day’s pay to the cause.
And staff from Burnham-On-Sea ambulance station joined forces with volunteers from BARB Search & Rescue to perform the running man dance-off at Brean’s Pontins holiday park at the weekend where £700 was raised on one night.
Kath, 40, said on Wednesday: “There are no words for our grateful I feel. Thank you sounds like such a small thing to say. To have so many people rooting for you is overwhelming. I can’t thank everyone enough.”
“To reach the target so quickly, in just over four weeks is amazing. The ‘Running Man’ challenge really kicked things off during the last few weeks everything has been quite mad.”
“On the flip side it is quite daunting, I have the money in my pocket now to start the treatment. All the fun side of it – raising the money – will be replaced with the hard stuff. I’ll have to have surgery and chemo which will wipe out my immune system. I’ll have to spend a lot of time in isolation, I’ll be more prone to infections and lose my hair.”
Four years ago Kath was diagnosed with malignant cancer and told she had just a two per cent chance of it returning.
But tragically a few years later she was told the devastating news it had returned and this time it was a lot more aggressive.
The treatment in Manchester harvests cells in her body which are fighting the cancer. Doctors then multiply these cells and wipe out the rest of her immune system. Early results indicate it has a 50 per cent success rate.
Although Kath has reached her minimum target for treatment she will continue to fundraise to cover any additional costs.
Pictured: Above, Ambulance paramedics Denise Richards and Shaz Bricknell and, top, crews with the BARB members during the Brean fundraiser
