'I know I’ll die from this but I want to live as long as I can... my daughter is too young to be without a mum'

“I’m 51, I’ve had cancer since I was 42. At the moment, the doctors estimate I’ve got 13 months of life left – and I’ve got so many plans for my life."

The harrowing words of a mum-of-three, adored by her family and friends who want to do anything they can to keep her alive. Michelle Freeman first faced tragedy when her youngest, Grace, was diagnosed with a cancer called retinoblastoma aged just two-and-a-half.

In the early 2010s, the family discovered the tot had the life-threatening cancer after noticing an abnormality in a photograph of her, realising her eye had come out white instead of having the ‘red eye tint’ most people would have. Grace was found to have two tumours and has lost all sight in her left eye, enduring gruelling long-term treatment.

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Just a few years later, in 2015, Rochdale mum Michelle found out she had breast cancer, and underwent major surgery and chemotherapy to treat it. By 2019, the unimaginable happened again as she received a second diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Almost 10 years into cancer treatment, and running out of options, Michelle and her loved ones are sending out a desperate plea.

Michelle found out her baby girl had life-threatening cancer after a nurse who had worked in paediatrics for more than 20 years, was looking at photos on Facebook when she realised that Grace’s eye had come out white instead of having the ‘red eye tint’ most people would have. The nurse contacted Michelle and treatment soon began - had it not, the cancer would have spread so far it would have been fatal, the Manchester Evening News reported in 2013.

By 2015, the family's nightmare only grew worse. Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had a mastectomy on her right side, along with chemotherapy. Michelle faced an horrific 12-hour breast reconstruction surgery, plagued by complications, but both Michelle and her daughter were recovering.

Michelle was back out adventuring in nature, one of her great passions. But in 2019, Michelle knew something was wrong and received devastating news.

I’d not had a period in so long with going through chemo, and every time I sat down it felt like something was being pushed up my bum – that’s the only way I can describe it," she told the M.E.N.

“That got looked into because the doctors were worried it was womb cancer. I had a biopsy and blood tests. They found 9cm masses on each ovary.

“It felt like I’d just got my life back, then it was back to square one."

Yet more surgery and chemotherapy followed for the ovarian cancer to tackle the tumour. Once again, Michelle thought she'd got her life back spending two years cancer free, and she returned to work full-time as a cleaner for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, which she has done for 17 years.

“I went back to work full time, but then I got a phone call from The Christie two years after that in 2021, another blood test showed the disease was coming back," she explained.

Routine blood checks revealed that the cancer was coming back in her pelvis, more surgery followed on Michelle's liver and pelvis - but this time it had spread. Eight months of chemotherapy that came next kept the illness at bay, Michelle said, and she was somehow 'back to loving life'.

Then, this year, Michelle underwent six more months of chemotherapy but, this time, things had changed. The cancer was immune to that type of chemotherapy and the tumours were bigger than ever, said Michelle. She has been given 13 months to live.

This week, Michelle has started an alternative chemotherapy that she will be having once a week for the next six weeks. And Michelle and her loved ones are appealing to the public for help.

The family has started a fundraiser for treatment Michelle wants to have alongside the chemotherapy which is not available on the NHS, saying it might help prolong her life. "Alongside [the chemotherapy] I can have Bevacizumab which isn't funded on the NHS! This is where I need your help," Michelle writes on her fundraiser.

"It costs £3,386 every three weeks for 12 months. This is my only shot at prolonging my life. I'm not ready to leave this world. I love life.

"The irony of all this is that I feel so well. In discomfort but well. Why would I give up!"

Cancer Research UK says: "Bevacizumab targets a cancer cell protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This protein helps cancers to grow blood vessels, so they can get food and oxygen from the blood. All cancers need a blood supply to be able to survive and grow.

"Bevacizumab blocks this protein and stops the cancer from growing blood vessels, so it is starved and can't grow. This treatment is an anti angiogenesis treatment. Meaning it interferes with the development of a blood supply."

Michelle added: “It stops the blood supply feeding the tumour and helps alongside the chemo. It’s £3,000 every time, but when you’ve been told there’s a treatment you can have that might extend your time, you’ve got to try the best you can to get it.

“Everyone responds differently to treatments, but it might prolong my life and give me a bit longer with my family. So I’m trying to raise as much money as I can.

“If it stops working, there might be something else. We’ve got to think positively and get on with life the best we can.

“Don’t get me wrong, I can have bad days where I spend hours crying. At the end of the day, I know I’ll die from this but I want to live as long as I can. My daughter is only 16 and I’m a single mum.”

By the time she has finished this round of chemotherapy, Michelle will have had 36 sessions of chemotherapy and a host of surgeries, including a mastectomy and hysterectomy, as well as procedures on her nipples and lymph nodes. Michelle has also had to give up her job as she worked directly with elderly people cleaning their warden-controlled properties, and her immune system has been so compromised by the treatment.

“I look like a patched up quilt with no clothes on," Michelle said. "And now I’m going to lose my hair again for the third time."

Michelle's daughter Grace has now reached 16, along with her two boys Ben, 24, and Tom, 32. Michelle is hoping to see her little girl turn 18 after such a difficult start in life, and take some final holidays around the UK with her dad who lives just two doors down.

“It’s heartbreaking knowing I’m not going to be there for my daughter. My dad’s birthday is the same day as my daughter’s – she’ll be 18, he’ll be 80. She’s too young to be without a mum," Michelle, a keen Cancer Research UK fundraiser herself, told the Manchester Evening News.

“We’ve got to make the most of the time we’ve got left. Asking for help isn’t something I like to do, but I want to stay alive."

As of writing, Michelle has raised £7,730 out of her £59,000 goal to fund the treatment long-term. If you can help this mum-of-three, head to this GoFundMe page.