A FORMER Kingswinford teacher and sportswoman – left wheelchair-bound by crippling MS – is set to head to Mexico for what she hopes will be life-changing treatment after kind-hearted friends and family rallied to raise more than £40,000.
Stacey Hurrell, a former geography teacher, charity marathon runner and top-ranking para-athlete, is set to undergo revolutionary HSCT treatment which aims to reset the immune system and stop it from attacking the central nervous system in a bid to regain her mobility.
Patients around the world have reportedly achieved excellent results after travelling to centres in Mexico and Russia for the treatment and 38-year-old mum-of-three Stacey (pictured below) feels it is her only hope.
She said: “Hopefully it will stop the progression of the disease – it does for around 80 per cent of people and 40 odd per cent receive some improvement. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll get a bit better. I won’t be able to run marathons but I might be able to walk again which would be nice.”
Big-hearted friends, family and members of the public have all helped to raise the money to fund the ground-breaking treatment at the Clinica Ruiz in Monterrey, Mexico, which involves harvesting and freezing stem cells from the bone marrow or blood, administration of chemotherapy to wipe out the patient’s blood cells and infusion of thawed stem cells to reset the immune system.
Stourbridge Rugby Club held a charity testimonial match in May which raised more than £12,000, while pupils and staff at The Kingswinford School, where Stacey worked as curriculum leader of humanities, raised money at a mufti day earlier this year.
Stacey, who was forced to quit her much-loved teaching job in January due to the illness, has also received £12,000 in donations to her JustGiving site, £6,000 from family and friends, £5,000 from kind-hearted members of the public and further £1,000 cash donations from family friends who heard about her plight.
Long lost friend Michael Mogan, from Coventry, (pictured below with Stacey and her children – Alex, 14, Loga, seven, and Evie, 10) also made a donation after hearing about the campaign and helped Stacey to secure around £6,000 in grants (£5,000 from Pedmore Sporting Club, £1,000 from the Eileen Hartfield Trust, £500 from Marston’s Brewery and £50 from Dudley Lions) bringing the amount raised to more than £42,550 towards the treatment.
The total bill will be around £45,000 plus £2,000 in follow up care in the UK as well as the costs of flying her carers to Mexico to assist her during her 28-day stay. Her sister-in law Vicki Hurrell will be at her side for the first three weeks and her dad David Rakowski will be at her side for the final 10 days.
Stacey, who is set to fly out on September 9, said: “The target has almost been reached, without all this support I wouldn’t be going.
“I am so grateful for the donations and well-wishes I have received and can never say thank you enough. I have had such fantastic support from family, friends and the community.”
She added: “It’s going to be a bit of a roller-coaster but I’m looking forward to getting it done.”
Kingswinford and Stourbridge Lions have also pledged to make a donation for Stacey from the proceeds of a beetle drive on Saturday September 16 at Stourbridge Institute and a quiz night at the same venue on Saturday October 14.
On her return to her Dudley home, she will have to take care to avoid infection but once on the road to recovery she is hoping to take up volunteer work for Mary Stevens Hospice with the Macmillan Community Volunteers.
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