A FLORIST is arranging her way to raise money so that she can receive ground-breaking treatment for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Rayanne Dooley, 25, who is from Laois but has lived in Enniskillen these last six years, was diagnosed with MS back in December 2020.
MS is a condition that affect the brain and spinal cord with symptoms ranging from fatigue, restricted mobility and even paralysis.
Rayanne herself has suffered temporary paralysis from the waist down and although she can walk short distances with an aid, she needs a stem cell therapy treatment that can dramatically change her life.
The Clinica Ruiz centre in Puebla, Mexico offers HSCT treatment using stem cells that can be hugely beneficial to MS sufferers. However, for Rayanne to access this, she needs to pay £50,000.
However, she has begun a fundraiser drive by using her flower-arranging skills in order to raise money for the treatment that could radically change her life.
She said: “HSCT – or stem cell therapy – is a chemotherapy-based treatment and you have to travel to the Clinica Ruiz clinic in Puebla, Mexico which costs £50,000. Hospitals in London charge £80,000. It’s insane money.
“I’m in online groups with people who have had this procedure done and it’s changed their lives dramatically.
“I started up a small business which kind of came out of nowhere. I had bought some flowers to make a gift bouquet for my counsellor as a thank you for everything she has done for me.
“I put up an image of this on Facebook and I got a load of messages asking if I did weddings. I was freaking out and asking myself ‘what do I do now?’. It was the first inkling that this could be something.
“I’m not being modest but as a florist, I don’t think I’m very good but other people are saying that I am.
“So I set up a page on Facebook called, ‘Room To Bloom’. I’ve only really done two weeks of it but I’ve sold out every single bouquet.
“I was speaking to the man who owns the little marts in town between Lidl’s and Dunne’s and he is giving me a place which I don’t have to pay for. His wife has MS herself so he’s letting me fund-raise.
“I’ll be on that mart for April 27 so I’m trying to get some stuff together and I’m also quite nervous about that. But I really do love working with flowers so I’m looking forward to it as well.”
At the age of 25, Rayanne should be enjoying her life as many other twenty-somethings. However, she has spent it bravely fighting a debilitating illness.
She added: “Hopefully, something will come out of this and I can get stem cell treatment. When you’re diagnosed, you have 10 years to get stem cell therapy because the sooner you get it, the quicker it works.
“It’s a complicated procedure – not to mention very intense and scary.
“I didn’t think I would be alive today given that I’ve been paralysed and trapped. But this is the thing that could save my life and change it dramatically.”
Rayanne’s ‘Room To Bloom’ facebook page can be accessed on: https://bit.ly/3MkkC4V and her Just Giving Page can be found at: https://bit.ly/3GtHNpB
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