Mels Medical Fund

Mel has always been the one up on stage, guitar in hand, raising funds for others in need. It’s now our turn to offer something in return. Mel is facing lifesaving surgery in less than 3 weeks on a brain tumor under the watchful eye of Dr. Teo. Any contribution to the $110,000 needed for her surgery is how we’d like to repay the favour.

I have set this up as a friend of Mels as she feels there are people out there that are much more needing than her. Mel is a proud and loving person. Probably the most selfless person I know. When I told her I wanted to do a fundraiser for her, her reply completely threw me. She said she would only consider it if we shared the profits with a fund close to her heart like the Mark Hughes Foundation or left it in an account as a pay it forward to Dr Teos next patient that wasnt in a private health fund and  needed life saving surgery also.
Mel is a mother of 6 with a passion for music. Mel has a beautiful mesmerising voice and has a natural talent with the guitar, she has passed her musical talents onto her children and you may have seen them on stage during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Tragically Mel discovered she had a brain tumor when her youngest was just 2 years old. The tumor was operated on, but with such a high risk of permanent damage only part of the tumor was removed. She has had ongoing scans at John Hunter Hospital over the past 5 years but sadly her seizures have become more frequent and severe. Taking matters into her own hands Mel went out looking for a second opinion and wanted it from the best of the best in the field. Mel saw Dr Teo on Tuesday 31st May and was told there and then, just by looking at the last two scans that had been done at John Hunter, that this was an aggressive tumor and it had gone from a Grade 2 to a Grade 4 in just a matter of months and that it needed to be operated on immediately. Mel was told she had two choices, let this tumor take its course and have a deteriorating quality of life of maybe 18 months to 2 years or have it operated on and be prepared for spasticity down the left hand side of her body and extend her life expectancy greatly. Saying goodbye to possibly her singing career and guitar playing, has weighed a great deal on Mels mind, but knowing she needed to be here on this earth for a whole lot longer than 2 years, to watch her children and grandchildren grow, she is going ahead with the operation. Sadly it comes at a cost….of $110,000. Mels parents have mortgaged their retirement home in Port Macquarie, and family members have offered to help cover the repayments of the loan to fund this operation knowing Mel will not be able to work and that her husband will be at home taking care of her and helping with the much needed rehab process in the hope that she will one day play her guitar again, so she can be back on stage giving to others once again. The idea of this fundraiser is just to try and contribute whatever we can big or small to help pay them back. Mels Operation takes place on Wednesday 29th June, we are holding a local fundraising event for her here in Tamworth on Saturday 25th June and hope to reach our target! I know Mel will be extremely thankful and overwhelmed by the support she will see come through both this page and our local event.