Becki McEvilly Rendell: Crowdfunding helps family see terminally ill daughter

A devastated husband is trying to get his wife’s UK family to Australia so they can say goodbye to their terminally ill daughter.

A devastated Werribee husband and father-of-one has turned to crowd-funding to help his wife’s family travel from Europe to say goodbye to their terminally ill daughter.

After three years of being misdiagnosed by numerous medical professionals as suffering from mental health problems, Becki McEvilly Rendell was admitted to hospital in December as her condition deteriorated.

“This battle has been so private for so long,” husband Stuart McEvilly Rendell said.

“When it was diagnosed as a mental health issue the people around us didn’t know how to respond … eventually we withdrew and isolated ourselves from our community.”

Described as a “caring, intelligent and generous” person, the 40-year-old web and graphic designer began experiencing chronic degenerative symptoms in 2018, leaving her living with pain and confusion.

Supplied Editorial Stuart and Becki McEvilly Rendell.

Numerous trips to every medical professional the family could think of, consistently saw Beckie wrongly diagnosed with mental health issues.

“I always think we could have done more, but there wasn’t anything we actually could have,” Stuart said.

“We were speaking to every medical professional we could, even a top doctor in the US couldn’t understand her unusual symptoms.”

After being admitted to Werribee Mercy Hospital just a few weeks before Christmas, Becki’s condition rapidly deteriorated and she was moved to a specialist neurology hub at St Vincent’s hospital.

Within a couple of weeks she lost the ability to speak, feed herself, and cannot recognise her loved ones.

This week doctors have confirmed a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease – a “very rare” and incurable condition.

Becki McEvilly Rendell has been diagnosed with rare and incurable early onset Alzheimer’s disease after years of misdiagnoses.

Faced with more than $14,000 in medical debt, depleted savings, dwindling annual leave days and a close to $10,000 cost to fly her family in from Europe and the United Kingdom, Stuart reached out to a close friend for advice.

“I was thinking I’d probably have to sell my house to cover it,” he said. “She suggested GoFundMe, because it had helped her in the past.”

In just one week the page has raised more than $37,000 for the family from 343 donors and been flooded with messages of support from the community.

“I’m just gobsmacked by it all,” he said. “I think it just shows how kind people are and the impact Becki had on lives.”

Unable to visit his wife in the hospital due to Covid, Stuart says he now just wants to spend as much time with her as possible.

Stuart says the money will be used to fly and accommodate Becki’s family in Melbourne, and allow him to take time off work to be with her for the remainder of her limited time.

He hopes Becki’s story will encourage people to break the stigma around mental health and remain connected with friends and family.

“If I was asked to give advice I’d say listen to your gut,” he said. “ If you‘re not happy with the doctor you’re seeing, keep looking. It does take time but it’s so important to find one that does listen.”