Race to raise £80k to prolong life of Laura Nuttall, 21, suffering with 'merciless' brain cancer

'Doing it for Laura 2021' was launched on GoFundMe last week by Nicola Nuttall, mum of 21-year-old Laura Nuttall from Barrowford, in the hope of raising £80,000 for further treatment which is not available on the NHS.

Gracie, Laura, mum Nicola and dad Mark

The second year Manchester University politics, philosophy and economics student was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive tumour that invades brain tissue, in Autumn 2018, after experiencing headaches and tiredness while in her first few weeks at Kings College London, where she had originally chosen to study.

Following treatment in November that year, Laura was given a prognosis of roughly 12 months and told to go away and make memories.

Laura Nuttall

She bravely endured a craniotomy to remove the largest tumour and then started a gruelling program of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Mum, Nicola said: "But then we found an innovative new immunotherapy treatment available only in Germany and with the help of our friends, community and the wonderful people who donated through the original GoFundMe page, we were able to take Laura out to Cologne on a regular basis and to our delight, her immune system responded to the treatment.

"Fast forward two and a half years, Laura switched universities to be closer to home, and although still really healthy and free of symptoms, a routine MRI scan revealed regrowth on the site of the original tumour."

Laura in hospital

Laura had a second surgery at the end of March this year and now requires two further treatments in the form of vaccinations and a course of an inhibitor called Pembrolizumab.

None of this is available on the NHS though, so Laura's family are faced with the enormous challenge of raising a further £80k to help their daughter make many more memories.

Nicola said: "She's very aware she has a terminal illness, but I've never seen her cry about it.

"She's an ambassador for the Brain Tumour Charity and helps out with the curry on the street feed in Nelson.

Laura Nuttall

"She just gets on with her life, but I must admit it has changed her. She's a much more compassionate and kind person as a result of it and she's got lots of things on her bucket list that she still wants to do.

"We've done so many wacky things so far. British Airways paid for us to fly business class to South Africa so we could go on safari; we've been to New York to see Saturday Night Live being filmed; she's met Michelle Obama, and has taken Peter Kay for a pint. She's even been fishing with Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer.

"She's driven a tube train, an HGV, a bus and a motorbike, and there's so much more she wants to do.

"She sometimes says 'it's not the best reason why I have done all these things but the experiences I've had have been so incredible'.

"I would much rather she was an ordinary girl and we'd never had any reason to do these things, but she just remains realistic about it all."

Laura, Gracie, and cousin Alice

Nicola said that before Laura was diagnosed there were many little symptoms that on their own wouldn't seem significant, but when looked at together were key to indicating something was wrong.

She added: "She had been really tired, falling asleep in lectures, and there were things that sometimes wouldn't make sense to her, like one time she went to bed and woke up on the floor and didn't know why, and she was getting pains in her eyes.

"All these things are really important when looking for signs of brain cancer.

"She's been really lucky following her second surgery though - she hasn't lost her memory, or speech or feeling in her arms. But I do know a lot of families who have lost children recently, it's a merciless disease.

"And to have to go through it all during Covid, when we couldn't be there in the hospital with her, it was heartbreaking."

Laura ringing the bell after treatment

The £80k immunity treatment Laura now requires, which will hopefully stop more cancerous cells from reproducing, can only be undertaken in Cologne, and with almost £7,000 raised in just two days, it's a race against time to hit their target so that Nicola, dad Mark, and sister Gracie, 19, can fly her out and hopefully provide her with a few more years.

To follow Laura's story head to doingitforlaura.com and to donate to the Go Fund Me page visit gofundme.com/doing-it-for-laura-2021.