Terminally Ill Father Raises £500,000; Attempts To Save Life Of Stepdaughter Affected By Cancer
Tom Attwater, a 32-year-old father from Pattingham in the United Kingdom, is suffering from later stages brain cancer. He has a dying wish of saving the life of his 5-year-old stepdaughter, Kelli, who is being treated fo cancer. His wish has come true as he has managed to raise £500,000.
According to the Mirror, Kelli was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that is most common in children when she was just three months old. She was undergoing the second round of treatment a few months before Attwater was diagnosed. Doctors have predicted that Kelli was likely to relapse again. Attwater then vowed that he would raise half a million pounds so that she could receive pioneering medical treatment in the United States that would be required for her well-being.
Attwater married Kelli's mum, Joely, eight months ago. He said that he was feeling elated. He said that when he saw figures meeting the target at 100 percent on the Web site JustGiving, a fundraising platform through which funds were raised for Kelli's treatment by Joely, he was in shock and did not know whether to laugh or cry. He added that it had sunk in and that he felt like he was the luckiest man alive.
Attwater said that time was running out for him and that his health was declining. He said that he could now spend his time in peace, enjoying the fact that his family is safe and that he had done his best to give Kelli a chance of a long, healthy and happy life. He added that when he and his wife told Kelli about the fundraising, she thanked them for saving for her "special medicine," and she told him that she was proud of him. He said that had made the effort of fundraising immediately worthwhile.
Attwater and Joely are expecting their first baby as a couple. Joely said that having a baby was high on Attwater's bucket list and that they are both thrilled. She added that it was bittersweet because Attwater knew that he won't be around to see the baby grow up. She said that she felt denial about that. She also said that the very top of his bucket list was to raise money for Kelli and that he was the love of her life and her hero.