A young mum diagnosed with cancer and told she has just weeks left to live is begging for help in making a last ditch attempt to survive and see her children grow up.

Natalia Stanisz, who lives in Stevenage, was first diagnosed with melanoma - a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs of the body - in 2018. She remembers "it was only about the removal of a small mole".

In November 2020, however, a scan revealed two tumours in her abdomen - the melanoma had spread.

"I am now a stage IV malignant melanoma patient with satellite metastasis," Natalia explained. "The diagnosis given by my NHS oncologist is that there is no other treatment left for me and I have a few weeks of life left."

Desperate to see her children, seven-year-old Tobi and eight-year-old Kayah, grow up, Natalia is pinning all hope on a new immunotherapy drug called Keytruda, which was only licensed for use in the UK earlier this year, but she is rapidly running out of time. Doctors have recently found cancerous lumps in Natalia's neck and pelvis.

"Unfortunately, the tumour in my pelvis is too difficult to be operated on," she said, but "I was given radiotherapy to treat the tumour in my neck."

Keytruda is not available to Natalia on the NHS, so she is desperately trying to raise £90,000 to pay for private treatment before it is too late. In just four days, more than 900 people have collectively donated more than £35,000.

"It is unbelievable how amazing, big-hearted and supportive you all are," Natalia said. "I would like to thank each one of you. Some of you don’t even know me and yet I have the luck to have your support. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. You all make me want to fight even more."

Natalia says she is hopeful, after contact with both Royal Marsden Hospital and King's College Hospital in London about private treatment. She said: "There is a lot of hope for me, but not much time left.

"I was ashamed at first to ask, but my only solution is to ask every person I can to help me raise money. I am begging for help with my fight with cancer, to allow me to live, to see how my children grow and to make memories with my husband."

To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/natalia-stanisz