Mum-of-two’s urgent appeal to fund lifesaving brain surgery for rare tumour

Just two months ago Katrina Darcy-Frelford was unaware of the near inoperable tumour in her brain. Now, she is a race against time to have it removed.

A mum-of-two is in a desperate race against time to receive lifesaving surgery and a chance to watch her daughters grow up.

Katrina Darcy-Frelford, from Tweed Heads, was recently diagnosed with a rare and almost inoperable cancer in the form of a glioma brain tumour and requires immediate surgery to have it removed.

Without the urgent procedure, which renowned Australian neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo has agreed to conduct, Ms Darcy-Frelford’s days could be numbered.

It was just eight weeks ago that alarm bells began ringing – Ms Darcy-Frelford was experiencing headaches and vertigo, which she initially put down to her busy life of juggling work and her two kids.

One afternoon however while driving her daughters home, a wave of extreme fatigue hit and she experienced a bizarre sensation of the car feeling as though it had more motion than it did.

“I pulled in the drive and went to get out of the car, but I couldn’t stand up. It was pretty frightening actually,” Ms Darcy-Frelford recalled.

Just a few days later after an appointment with her GP and a subsequent MRI, she was delivered the life-altering news that she had a brain tumour.

Katrina Darcy-Frelford pictured with her daughters Ayla and Indi, and her husband, Seth. Picture: GoFundMe

The glioma tumour is particularly difficult as it grows into the cells, making it extremely hard to remove in its entirety and prevent from coming back.

While Dr Teo has assessed her condition and accepted the challenge, his lifesaving surgery comes at a cost of $100,000, but still won’t guarantee Ms Darcy-Frelford a cancer-free life.

According to a GoFundMe established to raise money for the surgery, Dr Teo has given her a 15 per cent chance he’ll be able to remove the tumour without it returning.

It’s a chance the family are more than willing to make, but need to act soon before the tumour gets any bigger.

“We can’t put a price on our health, but Katrina’s tumour has done that for her. We’re hoping to collect as much as we can to help Katrina take this opportunity for surgery with Dr Teo, and return to living her beautiful life,” fundraiser organiser Jenna Warne wrote to the page.

Part of the procedure involves Dr Teo removing a piece of Ms Darcy-Frelford’s brain responsible for her balance, which will undoubtedly present its own host of post-surgery challenges.

Katrina Darcy-Frelford requires urgent surgery for her glioma brain tumour. Picture: Supplied

“We don’t quite know yet what exactly that will mean,” she said.

The most crucial information about her tumour will remain entirely unknown until Dr Teo “opens up” her brain, Ms Darcy-Frelford added.

Doctors had also informed her that glioma tumours typically became “extremely aggressive” over a four to five-year period, at which point the survival rate was 10 per cent.

With the team unable to gauge how long the tumour has been growing, it was impossible predict what stage it was at before seeing it for themselves.

Mum-of-two is a selfless ‘life of the party’

Ms Warne said her friend had “the biggest heart” and was known for being “the life of the party”.

“If this was one of us that was in her position, she would be rallying to get help. And we mean rallying. She’s the sort of person who would pay for a stranger’s groceries without thinking twice,” she wrote.

Ms Darcy-Frelford with her daughters Ayla, 6, and Indi, 2. Picture: Supplied

“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.”

The family are working to raise $130,000 to pay for surgery and the costs of travel, recovery and rehabilitation.

Ms Darcy-Frelford’s daughters Ayla, 6, and Indi, 2, have not been told of her condition in the family’s effort to keep their lives as normal as possible.

Anyone wanting to contribute to Ms Darcy-Frelford’s surgery costs can do so here.