31 January 2024 , 11:42
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One mum has shared an emotional plea after a devastating diagnosis turned her life upside down - all in a desperate bid to get life-saving treatment.
Josie Hasan was enjoying life as usual with her husband Laith, and family, until he spotted a mole on her back had changed. After the 35-year-old from Plymouth got it checked out, she was diagnosed with stage 3c metastatic melanoma.
Following her initial treatment, Josie began suffering side-effects, and was hospitalised. The mum-of-two was then diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neurological autoimmune disease that affects the nerve signals. This led to her lungs shutting down, and she was put on a ventilator to be kept alive.
The second diagnosis means that Josie is unable to have immunotherapy to treat her cancer. But Laith found a treatment called tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), which is only offered in a small number of countries such as the US, Israel and Switzerland.
Now Josie has shared her story, with a heartbreaking plea to help try and fund the treatment and raise awareness. The treatment is at trial stage in the UK and “not an option for Josie via the NHS ” so instead they’re trying to fundraise £150,000.
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So far she’s raised almost £9,000. Her cousin, Jordan Heyward, recently completed a huge fundraising challenge on Sunday 28 January and helped raise a further £2,770 to go towards the treatment. Jordan's challenge began in Plymouth and saw him run a total of 81 miles across three days to Land's End.
The family is now also being supported by the Bradley Lowery Foundation, which is helping them with further fundraising. It means that Josie and her family will be able to appeal to businesses to donate towards their fundraiser.
While Laith said Josie and their family are all grateful for the support they have received, it has been a difficult time for them trying to "navigate this new world". He told PlymouthLive: "It's nice knowing that people have been there to support and donate, and share so many kind messages.
Josie Hasan and her daughters, Rebecca and Sophie (Josie Hasan)
Josie Hasan and husband Laith, who noticed the mole (Josie Hasan)"But it has been difficult for us as a family and there's been an onslaught of feelings. It doesn't mean we've escaped what we are going through. Josie is weak and exhausted and she has a lot of routine hospital appointments. It's stripping us of our lives as we knew them."
Josie has now set up Josie's Journey Facebook page to document her experiences and raise awareness of skin cancer. She shared an emotional video earlier this month introducing herself and explaining her diagnosis and her symptoms.
Speaking in a heart-breaking video, Josie said: "The uncertainty of not knowing what the future holds is the worst part. No, sorry no, the worst part is my four-year-old daughter asking me questions like 'mummy, why aren't you strong like other mummies?' or 'mummy, why are you poorly all the time? Will you ever get better?'. That's the hardest part.
"But we have found a treatment option that has a really high success rate but it's not available here, it's available overseas and that's why I'm in this position today, here, asking for your help to possibly have a treatment that could save my life."
Laith said that whilst the video was difficult for Josie to make, she feels it is important to share her journey to help others. "It took a lot for her to get that video out there," he said. "Josie wants to let everyone know about her journey and she wants to raise awareness of skin cancer because it's on the rise and even something as simple as reminding people to put on sunscreen could help. It will be beneficial to get stuff out there and get more support from further afield."
You can view Josie's fundraiser, here, and the Josie's Journey Facebook page, here.