A BRAVE former Worcester mum is on her way for life-saving surgery in Barcelona after an anonymous benefactor plugged the £130,000 gap in their desperate fund-raising mission.
Rachel Pighills began her journey in an ambulance driven by devoted husband Guy on Friday (May 13) afternoon ahead of scheduled surgery this time next week.
The Observer reported in October 2019 on Rachel and her husband Guy’s desperate race to fund the £135,000 needed for life-saving surgery in Barcelona. Rachel was injured when she banged her head on a fan at her home.
In January 2020, Rachel underwent an Occipital Spinal Fusion with Posterior Fossa Decompression in the UK.
Whilst Rachel’s situation initially seemed promising at the time, her health rapidly began to deteriorate.
Her initial surgery had failed and the painkillers were merely suppressing her central nervous system and masking the symptoms.
Rachel now needs to undergo a combination of consecutive and very complex brain and spinal surgeries, to save her life as her neck is struggling to support her head and her skull is slowly sinking into her spine.
Thanks to the mystery Warwickshire woman’s donation, the caring Pershore couple can finally dare to dream of a brighter future as the loan has taken them above their £350,000 target.
An ecstatic Guy said: “Our prayers have been answered and a miracle has happened.
“With still such a large amount of money to raise, surgery was going to have to be postponed, but with Rachel’s deterioration, this lady, our guardian angel would not allow it to happen and has very generously loaned us the remaining £130,000 needed.
“We are absolutely blown away that someone would do this for us, it really is a blessing and no amount of words can express how eternally grateful we are.”
Guy hopes the tireless fund-raising will continue to enable them to repay the astounding act of kindness as soon as they possibly can.
“We are very stressed about needing to raise the rest of the money to make the repayment but hope is driving us forward,” he said.
“The quicker we can raise the money the quicker Rachel can focus on her recovery instead of worrying about repayments and hopefully enjoy a quality of life again.
“We couldn’t have got this far without everyone’s love and support that we have been shown and we want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”
Guy has pledged to keep well-wishers updated on their journey and how surgery goes.
Follow Rachel’s Fight for Life on Facebook or visit https://gofund.me/510fd0a2 for more.
