Family's plea to help fund Yorkshire health visitor's stem cell treatment abroad for aggressive Multiple Sclerosis

A health visitor who fears losing her independence to an aggressive disease has launched an appeal to fund treatment in Russia as she can no longer access it on the NHS.
By Ruby Kitchen
Published 16th Oct 2020, 18:00 BST
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.

Keighley's Trish Grimshaw, mother to five children aged between 19 and two, has a rare form of multiple sclerosis (MS) which sees her own body attacking itself.

The 38-year-old, who has worked as a children's nurse and then health visitor in the Bradford area for 15 years, had hoped to access treatment on the NHS which can slow the progression of the disease.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Diagnosed just last summer, her condition has deteriorated rapidly over the last six months and she now faces having to fund private stem cell treatment in Moscow with costs mounting to £50,000.

Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.

“I've always been a very active person, taking the kids on days out and going for long walks in the countryside," she said.

"But MS has stopped me from enjoying the things I once took for granted, and the physical and psychological effects of this have been hugely debilitating."

Read More
Hospital consultant left paralysed on a ventilator at Leeds General Infirmary af...

Mrs Grimshaw has primary progressive MS, with her best option for treatment to slow the disease being the drug Ocrevus, which is now out of reach.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.

She hopes instead to undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to 're-boot' her immune system, but she doesn't qualify in England and Russia is her only hope.

Mrs Grimshaw, who cannot walk more than 50m without tripping or losing her balance, fears she may lose her independence and become reliant on a wheelchair.

Husband Dan Grimshaw, who set up an appeal page on GoFundMe, said: “We really didn’t know where to turn and although we have been very private about Trish’s condition we were left with no alternative than to ask for the support of our friends, family, colleagues and neighbours in tackling this huge fundraising challenge to get Trish to Moscow.

“The kids have been hugely supportive and are all getting involved, with the exception of Stanley, who is just two years old and doesn’t really understand, but he keeps us smiling.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.
Friends and family have launched an appeal to help fund treatment abroad for mother-of-five and health visitor Trish Grimshaw.

To view the family's GoFundMe Page click here. ________________________________________________________________________

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson

Related topics:NHSYorkshireRussiaBradford