Derry mum 'hoping for a miracle' fundraising for life-changing treatment in Mexico

Jacqueline first started experiencing MS symptoms around six years ago but was mistakenly diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She was given anti-depressants and experienced mid symptoms for a few years. It wasn’t until her fourth child, Jamie, was born that she got a diagnosis.

Jacqueline said: “I had been on depression medication for a few years and then, one day we were heading out for my son Caleb’s eight birthday party.

I got in the car and then my whole body just went numb and was shaking. I didn’t know what was wrong with me so, instead of going to the birthday party, we went to Altnagelvin with the children in the car. I couldn't walk, so the doctors had to come out to the car when we got there and they said it was just an anxiety attack and sent me home.

"I got pregnant then with my son, Jamie, he’s my fourth child, and it was just then it all really started. I gave birth to him and a couple of months later, one morning my whole body was swollen out. I went to the doctors and she did a test on my feet, then I went for an MRI and then I went for a lumbar puncture and then that's how I was diagnosed with MS.

"In the past three years, I've progressed rapidly. Three years ago I was walking, dancing and spending time with my family. I could go out and I was doing normal things but now, I wouldn't be able to walk to the bottom of the yard and back up again without support. My legs are really, really bad. I have extreme fatigue and brain-fog and most of my independence is gone. The last two years have been robbed me I need to fight to get some of my independence back. The walls in my house are my best friends because I can’t go anywhere any more. I dread to think what another three years is going to do to me. I don’t want to be in a wheelchair. I just want to do all the things that I used to be able to do with my children, to run around and play with them. And they don’t understand what’s going on with me either or why I can’t do the things that I used to be able to do. The bigger ones get it a bit but the younger ones really don’t get it. Caleb, the oldest, is only 12 and Molly is nine, Anna is five and Jamie is three so, for most of Jamie’s life, I have been sick and getting worse.”

Jacqueline has been on medication for three years, which isn’t working and she is currently waiting to be approved for secondary treatment. There’s a chance that it won’t work, however, and that’s why Jacqueline would like to travel to Mexico for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). This treatment is an intense chemotherapy treatment for MS, which aims to 'reset' the immune system by wiping it out and re-growing it, using the person’s own stem cells. Jacqueline needs £60,000 for the treatment, including travel expenses and accommodation for a required caregiver to travel with her. The treatment would last 28 days and would require Jacqueline to isolate for a number of weeks after until her immune system is rebuilt. The treatment is available privately on the NHS but would cost almost twice as much as traveling to Mexico. Jacqueline has been saving as much as she can but she needs the treatment as soon as possible to get the most out of it and to prevent her symptoms from developing further. Her sister set up a GoFundMe to try and raise the money and has almost £1,000 donated so far.

“The treatment might not work and it will take about a year to recover from it but if it helps me then I’ll do it in a heartbeat,” Jacqueline said. “I would do anything to get my life back – I would do anything. The only reason I'm doing it is for my children. If I didn't have the children, I would be lying in a heap, sleeping all day but the only reason I live is for the children. I love them and I love their dad and my mum too. My whole family are just amazing.”

Jacqueline is hoping to start the process of applying for the treatment and getting health checks complete as soon as she has half the money saved. She says she is ‘waiting for a miracle’ that the money can be raised soon to stop her illness progressing any further.

Jacqueline has been supported by a number of local businesses and by Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan to help raise money and awareness for her fundraiser. The people of Derry have rallied around her and she says she has been ‘blown away’ by the support she has received so far since her sister created the GoFundMe on Sunday. Jacqueline’s sister-in-law is also holding a raffle to try raise money and other family members are doing as much as they can to raise the vital funds.

"I see the amount of people helping and it's unbelievable. I can't get over it to be honest with you,” she said.

To donate to Jacqueline’s fundraiser, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/uynbj-treatment-in-mexico-for-multiple-sclerosishsct