£125k appeal to bring home High Peak mum stuck in Texas after receiving cancer treatment

Fundraiser launched to get High Peak mum wife and former headteacher home as she is stranded in Texas after medical costs for cancer treatment soar. Photo submitted

Holly Hartley, 47, a mum-of-two from Birch Vale, is currently in a hospital in Texas after she became ill while on holiday.

She has since been diagnosed with a brain tumour and had several surgeries and started radiation treatment.

Her husband Alan said: “It’s not easy knowing she is this poorly and so far away.

“It’s tough but I’ve got to be strong for our children.”

In March 2023, Holly was told she had Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (PDTC), a rare and aggressive form of thyroid cancer.

Since Holly’s diagnosis, she has been managing her symptoms and illness, privately funding and exploring every avenue of treatment.

She has also focused on all aspects of her health and well-being during this time.

Alan said: “She read up on how to improve all aspects of your body and was following a vegan diet and doing meditation.”

In September, she was well enough to travel to the USA to take part in a mediation retreat.

She arrived on the Thursday and after feeling unwell decided to check herself into hospital on the Sunday.

Alan said it had been a whirlwind of bad news since then.

“Doctors in Florida found a tumour in her brain, thankfully it was at the top of the brain and they were able to operate so she has since had two emergency brain surgeries.”

Her sister has travelled down from Canada to be with her.

Holly is now under the care of Maria Cabanillas at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas and, whilst being there she has had internal bleeding from the cancer in her lungs.

US healthcare requires bills to be paid upfront and because of this, her treatment which she so vitally needs, has now stopped.

Alan said: “This is a nightmare situation, when Holly went to the States, we expected her to be home in two weeks rested and recuperated, ready to continue the fight against this awful disease.

“Because of the deterioration in her condition, I’ve now had to tell our two children that their mum might not be able to come home, which is heart-breaking.

“Apart from the emotional trauma of dealing with my wife being so ill, I’m having to navigate the American healthcare system and our insurance company to try and get the help Holly needs.”

Holly is a former secondary school headteacher in Stoke-on-Trent and cashed in her teacher’s pension but the money is not going far enough against the soaring medical costs.

Alan said: “There is no cure for the type of cancer Holly has so if we can make her life more comfortable and extend it that would be amazing.

“There is a drug Holly can take called Keytruda but this isn’t available on the NHS for Poorly Differentiated Thyroid cancer only cervical cancer, so we would have to purchase this drug in the United States and in the UK.

“This is too big for our family to deal with alone and so we’ve started a Gofundme appeal to get Holly home where she needs to be.”

To donate to Holly’s fundraiser which currently stands at nearly £25,000 visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/holly-get-the-treatment-she-needs-to-get-home