AN Enniskillen woman who is fundraising to receive ground-breaking treatment for her multiple sclerosis (MS) has raised an astonishing £30,000.
Back in April, The Herald told the story of Rayanne’s bid to raise the £50,000 needed to receive the revolutionary treatment from the Clinica Ruiz centre in Puebla, Mexico, which offers HSCT treatment using stem cells that can be hugely beneficial to MS sufferers.
Although she is still £20,000 short of her target, the money raised so far has allowed her to book the first few weeks of treatment – scheduled to start next March.
Rayanne, 25, who is originally from Laois but has lived in Fermanagh for the last six years, started off by making and selling flower-bouquets.
But as she reveals, others have chipped in to help get her to Mexico.
She said, “I think the amount raised when I last spoke to The Herald was around £1,600. I’m on nearly £31,000 now.
“It wasn’t all down to the flower designing that I have been doing. There were a number of other fundraisers as well.
“A tractor run was organised, my family climbed Croagh Patrick which raised around 10,000 euro, an Irish music night that raised £3,000 and a hairdresser got in contact and offered to do ladies’ waves and curls for free with customers donating whatever they could.
“We recently held a charity women v men football match at the Forum – in which my partner was playing in. Also, Manchester United donated a pennant signed by a number of players which we auctioned at JT Ryan’s Bar afterwards.
“I also have a new date for treatment (in Mexico) which will be March 4, next year. Although I’ve not raised the total amount, you have to pay two months in advance.
“Now that I’ve got over the £30,000 mark, I’ve been looking to get a loan to complete the remainder needed because I just don’t think that donation-wise, it will be possible to raise more than I already have.
“The £50,000 would include treatment, flights, medication and an MRI.”
Rayanne, though, still has her struggles with her health having had to be rushed to the SWAH a few weeks ago.
She added, “I recently had sepsis which meant I was hospitalised. My temperature was over 40 degrees and I was told that I should really have not lived through that.
“I thought I was having a relapse with the MS as I was shaking, having seizures for three and a half hours, went blind – temporarily – and was fully paralysed. Despite the high temperature, I felt really cold.
“I was in the SWAH for a week but I’ll be back there soon as I’ll be getting my regular infusion as part of my MS treatment. I hope this will be my last infusion as the side-effects are horrendous. But they keep the MS at bay so you have to just deal with it.”
If you wish to make a donation, Rayanne’s Just Giving Page can be found at: https://bit.ly/3GtHNpB
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