Jamie Lee Auchettl fundraiser reaches $57,000 in six weeks to help her find a cure for Huntington’s disease.

A brave Port Melbourne woman has embarked on a journey to the Amazon to find a cure for a debilitating disease to end the cycle for her family.

Jamie Lee Auchettl has travelled from Port Melbourne to the Amazon searching for healing after she tested gene positive to Huntington's disease. Image: Instagram.

A Port Melbourne woman has taken her race against time very far from home, as she searches for a way to cure Huntington’s disease.

Jamie Lee Auchettl tested gene positive four years ago for the heartbreaking disease shortly after her 31st birthday.

Having witnessed her father struggle with Huntington’s, Ms Auchettl battled with the thought of a recurring nightmare after her positive test result.

Not one to submit to fate, Ms Auchettl began researching treatments and possibilities for healing, defiant in the face of a dead-end handed to her by Western medicine.

“I’m not against Western medicine, there just isn’t anything there for me,” she said.

“I’ve been to conferences and all sorts, but there doesn’t seem to be anything at the present moment or in the near future.”

After hours of researching, reading and coming up with minimal results, Ms Auchettl spoke to a friend, who had recently returned from a healing retreat in the Peruvian jungle.

“A very close friend of mine told me about the retreat. They’d spent a significant amount of time here,” she said.

“I just knew I had to be here. I had a strong feeling that this is where my healing would begin. And it has.”

The foundation of a fantastic adventure novel, Ms Auchettl and her partner Kev, set out to make the long journey to Peru and see if the retreat could offer a solution to her impending problem.

This is where GoFundMe enters the story. Ms Auchettl set up the fundraiser at the beginning of February.

Just over six weeks later, she has raised a whopping $57,000.

Already in the Peruvian jungle, Ms Auchettl said she was overwhelmed by the support she had received from her loved ones and strangers.

“It’s really humbling knowing that so many people care, even strangers,” she said.

While there is a long road ahead for Ms Auchettl, she said finding out she was gene positive had given her purpose.

“I won’t lie there have been dark days where this is terrifying to me, the thought of my life ending the way my dad’s did,” she said.

“It’s not been smooth sailing, but at the same time it’s been a blessing in disguise.

“I’ve had something to fight against, it really has ignited a fire in my belly to beat this.”

With donations creeping in, Ms Auchettl said her main goal is to give others in her position hope.

“It can be so depressing, going online and reading that nothing can be done,” she said.

“This is really about giving hope or a belief to others in my position that just because someone says there is no cure for you, it doesn’t mean that you can’t find an answer.”

Click here if you’d like to donate to Ms Auchettl’s fundraiser, and follow her journey through personal updates from the jungle here.

 
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