Appeal to help terminally ill mum stranded abroad comes to Chichester

A desperate plea has been made to get a mum with terminal cancer back home after she was left stranded in America.
Jason and Lindsey Gates with children Brooke and CharleyJason and Lindsey Gates with children Brooke and Charley
Jason and Lindsey Gates with children Brooke and Charley

Friends of mum-of-two Lindsey Gates took to the streets of Chichester on Tuesday to help raise £87,000 for a specialised air ambulance to bring her home before she dies.

Lindsey, from Emsworth, was meant to be on the holiday of a lifetime at Disneyland, Florida, with her husband, Jason, and her two girls after she was diagnosed with four inoperable brain tumours.

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But after breaking her leg last week, the 40-year-old mum was told the cancer has spread to her bones and lungs. She now requires specialised transport to return home to England.

Friend Rikki Wilson, who is leading the fundraising drive, said: “We feel completely helpless. We just want her to come home to her family and not to die in a different country.”

Lindsey, who doctors said may have only three months to live, was due to fly home on Tuesday before a slip in a hotel bathroom saw her put in intensive care.

Doctors have fitted metal rods and pins into Lindsey’s shattered femur, which has been weakened because of the bone cancer.

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The family are desperately trying to negotiate with their insurance company to pay for the treatment and flight, but fear that a pay out may arrive too late.

The mum-of-two battled breast cancer in 2010 and was given the all-clear, only to be told she had brain cancer in April, after a sudden seizure.

Lindsey has yet to complete the last two items on her ‘bucket list’ – a trip to Butlins, in Bognor, with her children Charley, 14, and Brooke, six, and a journey to Cornwall.

A fundraiser to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime trip generated almost £12,000 in a matter of weeks in May.

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All those wishing to donate can visit ‘Lindsey’s Bucket List’ on Facebook or see Go Fund Me site, ‘Get Lindsey home where she belongs’.

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