Mum fears she won't live to see son grow up after devastating diagnosis
A "beautiful" mum fears she won't live to see her son grow up after she was hit with a devastating diagnosis less than a year after beating breast cancer.
Kalie Bishop, 33, from Sandwell, said she was in high spirits when she celebrated her victory over an "aggressive" cancer with her loved ones last year October. But this summer, Kalie began to struggle with sleepless nights after she endured aches and pains and has since been told she has metastatic cancer.
Her family shared their heartbreak after they were told she has less than a year to live. The local community has sprung into action, rallying together to raise £50,000 for private treatments in a desperate bid to save her life.
The funds are intended for clinical trials, cell-based immunotherapy, mistletoe injections, vitamin infusions, and private health care. Kalie's loved ones hope the treatments will extend her life of up to ten years, which will help provide her 12-year-old son with a "better start in life".
"Saving Kalie's life would mean everything, there's no words," her younger sister Louise Johnston told BlackCountryLive. "She needs to be there for her son. She's thinking 'I can't leave Kyron, what's going to happen if I die and leave him while he's doing his GCSEs?'
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"It will just give him a better start in life. Let's say she makes it until he's 15, that's going to be a struggle in itself. How is that going to affect such a young boy at such a vital time in his life; that's what she's scared of."
The community has been fundraising for Kalie's private treatment (Collect)Kalie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer before Christmas 2021, was sent on an "emotional rollercoaster" after undergoing surgery to remove breast and lymph node tissue followed by six gruelling months of chemotherapy.
Louise added: "She was so ill to the point she couldn't even make a sandwich. To see her go through that, constantly smiling, constantly being there for her family still, it's been a heartache but she made it through, she got through breast cancer. We threw a party, she got to ring the bell, she beat it."
An MRI scan delivered the devastating news - the cancer had returned, this time as stage 4, including in her spine. "She's just gone through the hardest battle, we were celebrating, we were over the moon, she's made it through and then bam, it's back again," Louise added. "They've given her three to four years. But from our research, 50 per cent of women who get diagnosed live that long, but a large per cent only live a year; we cannot lose Kalie.
"We just want to save Kalie. She's everything to me, she's my big sister and my best friend. I can't lose that. Everyone will say this, Kalie is the nicest, fun-loving, warm person. It should not be happening to her. It's shocked everyone and nobody wants to lose her."
The community has raised more than £6,500 through methods including raffles to go towards the fundraiser. Louise said she was "overwhelmed" by the response. "We didn't expect it to generate what it has done already," she continued.
"That is purely from the community, they've got raffles going on, they're sending in flyers into the schools to see if they can wear yellow and everyone donates £1 - there's so much going on in the background and we're so overwhelmed. We can't believe how everybody's come together to save Kalie. The whole area's just been coming together and it is so beautiful.
"I think we really will save Kalie if we keep going on like this. It's just given her such hope to see the lengths people are going to to save her. We know cancer affects so many people, it's an evil disease, if we could fundraise for everyone we absolutely would. To everyone else this is just another story, but Kalie's our world." To donate to the fundraiser click here.
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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