Single-mother Rebecca Cupitt, 47, has been battling Multiple Sclerosis since her early 20’s and has decided drastic measures need to be taken to treat her illness.
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Known for buzzing around Gerringong on her scooter (because she can no longer walk), the University of Wollongong casual lecturer says she is overwhelmed by the amount of support she’s been given.
Like a small number of other Australians living with the disease, Mrs Cupitt will head overseas for a controversial therapy, haematopoietic stem cell transplant (or bone marrow transplant). It is not available as a standard therapy in Australia.
She wanted to do something “proactive” because she said if she waited for doctors to tell her what to do nothing would happen. But the decision wasn’t easy.
“It took three years to make this decision,” she said. “Fundraising, asking people to put that money in for you is a big thing, especially when there’s so many other people who need that money themselves for things.”
Mrs Cupitt has been accepted for treatment in Mexico this June but needs $110,000 to get there.
Neighbour Claire Kulyk is part of a fundraising committee organised by friends and family to help Mrs Cupitt in her quest for a better quality of life.
“She is very well known and very well loved,” Mrs Kulyk said of her dear friend whom she’s watched deteriorate over the years.
Mrs Kulyk said MS has impacted the Cupitt family heavily but this treatment offers a lot of hope for her three teenage children.
Friends, even as far as Narrabri in the state’s central west, have been organising ways to raise money with cake stalls, trivia nights and the latest a Mexican themed battle of the bands at the Pavillion in Kiama on March 11.
“They’re just beautiful. It amazes me, I just think ‘wow’, they have such brilliant ideas and they really want to make it happen,” Mrs Cupitt said.
She knows it won’t cure everything but anticipates it might eradicate non permanent damage.
“I am nervous, I am excited, I don’t want to even think about the possibility of things being completely cured, I don’t want to get my hopes up too high,” she said.
“I’d really like to be able to go for a walk again, I know that sounds silly but I’d really like to be able to go for a walk.”
Charity Battle of the Bands:
- Lauren Collyer
- Hunter Auzins
- Tropical Wax
- Carefactor
- Boyz n Berry
- Men without Beards
Food, drinks, silent auction and more. From 6pm til late, at the Pavilion, Kiama. March 11.
For more details visit: www.facebook.com/50forBec/
OR email: nerida@goshpr.com.au