Earlier this week, the family of Delays singer and guitarist, Greg Gilbert, launched a GoFundMe campaign with a mission to raise £100,000 for his cancer treatment. Within a matter of days, over 4,600 fans of the Indie band gathered on the crowdfunding platform and raised more than £107,000.
According to his fiancee, Stacey Heale, Gilbert has been battling stage four bowel cancer, and it has spread to his lungs. Heale revealed he unfortunately is genetically incompatible with the only free immunotherapy drug that’s available on the NHS and will need to travel overseas to receive the proper treatment:
“Through extensive research and correspondence with specialist clinics in the UK and abroad, we have discovered new and groundbreaking treatments. These are targeted treatments such as stereotactic radiotherapy, microwave ablation and personalised immunotherapy. These have had astounding results on others that share the same prognosis as Greg. The treatments are currently not offered on the NHS due to not meeting their cost efficiency criteria. We have always been huge advocates for the NHS but this is just heartbreaking – I just cannot let Greg die and our daughters grow up without their daddy because of money.”
Heale reported much like most people in the UK, Gilbert, and his family do not have private medical insurance and will have to raise the £100,000 to give him any chance of survival. Although he has begun chemotherapy, they will need more funds to be able to move quickly when the treatment finishes in March:
“I know Greg will not mean the same to you as he does to me but I know his music and art have touched people all over the world. He has so much left to give – Delays have new songs that they want to release and tour, he has sketchbooks filling our home with ideas for drawings and paintings and of course, we have 2 baby girls who absolutely adore him. We desperately need him to be here to watch them grow up.”
Gilbert is the father to two girls Dali (3) and Bay (1), and Heale noted that they are desperate to make this year’s holiday special for both of the girls and to go into the new year with hope for the future. She then added:
“We would be so grateful for your support and generosity. We cannot do this without your help, which is why I am asking for you to share our page, spread the word and please donate whatever you can to help me save the life of the most magical person I have ever known.”
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