Rush to save for live-saving Dr Charlie Teo operation for young Northern Rivers mum

With a loving husband and two young daughters, this Northern Rivers woman is in a race against time to have radical surgery and fight a life-threatening brain tumour.

Katrina Darcy-Frelford with young daughters Ayla and Indi and husband Seth. Photo: Contributed.

Like most young mums, Northern Rivers resident Katrina Darcy-Frelford thought headaches, dizziness and fatigue were just part of the gig.

Until one day in April, on a drive home with her girls Ayla and Indi, she pulled into the driveway and found she couldn’t move her legs.

“I remember thinking ‘I feel really strange’, I pulled into house and went to get out of the car and I couldn’t stand up,” she said.

Bearing the heartbreak of losing her dad to a brain tumour and witnessing her mum also suffer a brain tumour battle recently, Katrina feared something may not be right.

Little did she know how devastatingly correct she would be.

Upon MRI examinations, doctors revealed Katrina had a suspected Glioma brain tumour.

Unlike other tumours, Glioma brain tumours grow into the surrounding cells and generally turn malignant in four to five years.

Once they do, they become known as Glioblastoma, what Katrina says doctor label the “most aggressive form of brain tumour there is”.

With a loving husband, a two-year-old, a six-year-old and so much life yet to live, Katrina said the diagnosis “took the wind out” of her, and she went into shock following the diagnosis.

“It’s pretty confronting to be in front of neurosurgeons and hear things like ‘prolonging your life’,” she said.

While both girls had not been told the extent of their mum’s illness, Katrina said her eldest daughter had sensed her mum may be sick.

“She is constantly within arm’s reach of me, she will only sleep with me and she tells me she loves me all the time,” she said.

“It’s pretty challenging.

“You say to yourself, ‘God I have to be okay’.”

Famed Australia neurosurgeon Charlie Teo. Photo: Phil Rogers

With a fighting spirit and massive support from friends and family, Katrina had ended up in front of revered neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo.

While Dr Teo had agreed to operate, he warned it would come with a 15 per cent success rate and had to be done as soon as possible.

“He was really honest, he said this thing could turn malignant tomorrow,” Katrina said.

“They will remove a part of my brain, obviously where the tumour is sitting and remove the brain around where it could potentially grow into the cells.

“They can’t guarantee anything, they don’t know what my recovery will be like.

“But I’d still rather take the risk.”

However, that risk came with a price tag of more than $100,000, leading Katrina’s community to step up.

Friends and family have united behind the Tweed Heads mum, launching two GoFundMes and numerous fundraisers to save money for the lifesaving operation, travel costs and rehabilitation.

Katrina with husband Seth. Photo:Contributed

As friend Jenna Warne wrote, if the roles were reversed, Katrina would be among the first to help out.

“Katrina has the biggest heart,” she said.

“She’s the sort of person who would pay for a stranger’s groceries without thinking twice.

“She’s the life of a party. She’s the sort of person who lights up a room.

“So, we’re going to fight this for Katrina. We’re going to rally, and beg, and make this lifesaving surgery happen, and we hope you’ll rally with us.”

Katrina said the kindness had left her overwhelmed but instilled with courage.

“The kindness people have shown, I’m blown away,” she said.

“I am finding it confronting to read at times. People are doing auctions and fundraisers and it’s too overwhelming because I don’t know how to thank everybody. ”

To donate, head here or here.