CABARITA BEACH cancer fighter Caitlin Ambrose is preparing to fly to Houston, Texas, to undergo medical tests to determine her eligibility for a trial drug TK-216, in her fight against Ewings sarcoma.
The 21-year-old remains in high spirits despite facing a grim diagnoses from Australian doctors for the rare form of bone and soft tissue cancer, which remains relentless after 17 rounds of chemotherapy.
While Caitlin may have been accepted into the US trial at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, the program comes at a huge cost of around $130,000, and she will also require a US doctor to assess her eligibility.
To help Caitlin, her family and friends have rallied together with a series of fundraising efforts, and local clubs and businesses are also pitching in with donations and fundraising initiatives.
Volunteers and members of the Apex Club of Murwillumbah hosted the first of three carwashes on Saturday, April 14, at BP South Murwillumbah.
Ambrose family friend and campaigner for Caitlin’s cause Meredith Meeves, said more than $6,000 was raised over the weekend.
“We raised about $2,500 from the Apex Club of Murwillumbah carwash, and the raffle and sausage sizzle outside Woolworth’s Cabarita raised around $3,000,” she said.
“Our stall at the Groove and Graze also raised more than $800 from raffle ticket sales.”
Add to this the current $45,000 from the GoFundMe page and Caitlin’s total now sits at more than $50,000, at the time of print.
Meredith said the next carwash will be held this Saturday, April 21 from 9am to 2pm at BP South Murwillumbah while IGA Tweed Valley Way will be hosting a sausage sizzle and cake stall.
“We’d like to thank the amazing support from the community and ask that we keep it going for Caitlin in her fight against this terrible cancer,” she said.
Meredith said several single donations have been as high as $1,000 with one anonymous $5,000 donation plus numerous others made to the BCU “Caring for Caitlin” account set up by the Apex Club of Murwillumbah.
A trivia night is also planned for Friday, May 5 at the Lindisfarne Chapel at Terranora.
Tickets are $25 each and include a share platter supper. To purchase visit: https://www.trybooking.com/374317
Residents can make a direct deposit into the bank account hosted with the BSB 533 000 Account number 100656080 title ‘Caring for Caitlin’ or visit her GoFundMe webpage www.gofundme.com/caitlin-kicks-cancer
For further information about the upcoming fundraising events or donations Contact Meredith Meeves on 0439 130 858.
