Hope. Love. Family. Fundraising for Becky!

I am fundraising for my amazing friend Becky, who has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bowel cancer.

Becky's Story:

I've known Becky since I was 15. She has been an amazing friend to me over the years. Throughout our friendship, Becky has regularly visited the Philippines to volunteer at Mercy in Action and spend time with my family and me. It was during one of these trips she met her finance, Weng. They began long-distance dating and fell head over heels for each other. Eventually, in 2019 Becky moved to the Philippines to live and work. Due to covid, she ended up in Cebu for two and a half years. During that time, Weng proposed to her, and they began planning their future together. They decided to move back to Bath to be closer to Becky's family, so she could be on hand to help her mum, who was due to have major surgery. So in December 2021, they decided to be separated temporarily for Becky to begin the visa application process for Weng, which would take 6 - 12 months.

Becky returned to the UK in December 2021. She quickly found a job she loved working in retail and moved in with her mum and brother. Around this time, Becky began feeling unwell with stomach pain and digestive problems.

After several months of going back and forth to the GP (who thought she had IBS or gluten intolerance), the pain and discomfort became so intolerable that Becky was rushed to A&E. She was finally given a CT scan and received the news that she had a bowel blockage. Becky was rushed in for emergency surgery without knowing what the outcome would be. Eventually, the news came that the surgery had taken 10 hours, Becky had been fitted with a Stoma bag, and they had found tumours.

Recovery from her surgery went well, and she waited for more tests and biopsy results. In March, the devastating diagnosis of bowel cancer was confirmed. After further testing in April, she was told they had found cancer cells in lymph nodes outside of the bowel, meaning the cancer is at an advanced stage. There are still a lot of unknowns in terms of treatment and outlook. The cancer is treatable but not curable.

We are in faith for a miracle for Becky and praying for a full recovery; however, in the natural, this is not the outcome predicted by doctors. Becky is now undergoing aggressive chemo with her treatment plan reviewed every 3 months.

I am raising funds to get Becky and Weng reunited! Going through something this huge separately has been devastating for Weng and Becky. Due to the side effects of chemotherapy, Becky has had to reduce her hours to part-time, and the financial cost of bringing Weng here on her own is unachievable for her without help from others. We are using a wonderful and highly experienced immigration lawyer who is now starting the process of getting Weng a settlement visa to the UK. She is the same lawyer who sucessfully secured settlements visas for my family when we faced a similar situation a few years ago.

The process of getting Weng to the UK will be costly and complicated, but it is achievable if we can reach this ambitious target, with your help! Any amount you can give is incredible, and I know Weng and Becky and their family hugely appreciate everyone who is praying for them and supporting them through this challenging journey.

Thank you so much for your support. I will update the page as we know more about Becky's treatment plan and how she is doing.

Emily