A dad with motor neurone disease now has a fighting chance of seeing his young daughters grow up after an appeal to raise £30,000 for stem cell treatment reached its target following a £2,000 donation from two strangers.
Scott Everett, who lives in Stevenage, was diagnosed with MND in March and given up to three years to live.
Scott is only 46 and never thought he wouldn’t see his daughters – two-year-old Evie and five-year-old Anna – grow up.
In a desperate attempt to slow progression of the disease down, his family set up a Go Fund Me appeal online in May to raise £30,000 to pay for stem cell treatment in Moscow. Other patients with MND who have had this treatment have reported improvements.
As well as fundraising activities, such as a Colour Run at Roebuck Primary School in Stevenage, where Anna is a pupil, donations have been flooding in from family, friends and strangers.
The final £2,000 needed to reach the target was donated by a couple from Walkern last week, who are strangers to the Everett family, but were moved by their story in the Comet.
Catherine said: “It’s staggering. I never dreamed we would get to the target. I’m constantly overwhelmed by strangers giving us money, and I want to repay their kindness one day, somehow.”
Scott, who has had to give up work as a HGV driver, has progressive bulbar palsy, which affects speech and swallowing before spreading to the rest of the body.
Catherine said: “He has been starting to get tired and is struggling a bit, so this has come at the right time. It’s what he needed to give him a boost and we are feeling quite hopeful now.”
Scott will fly to Moscow with his father, Brian, on September 24 to start the two weeks of treatment, with Catherine joining him for the final few days.
Scott’s sister, Kerry, said: “We have been truly humbled by people’s willingness to donate, fundraise, promote and campaign for our cause.
“My brother is very loved and well thought of by everyone who knows him, and the support - both emotional and financial - is true testament to how special he is.
“He deserves every chance of life and seeing his beautiful daughters grow up and he’s been given that chance. Thank you.”
The fundraising page will remain open to help pay for the drug Radicut, which Scott is also likely to need.
To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/scott-needs-stem-cells
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