Mother-of-four ‘fighting for life’ refused funding for treatment

A terminally ill mother felt her life didn’t matter after she was denied funding for a potential life-extending treatment – but her faith in humanity has been restored by the generosity of her “incredible” community.

Michelle Butterworth, 48, from Wallasey, was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a tumor on her adrenal gland, in 2017. She had surgery to remove the tumor at the Royal Liverpool Hospital – but three years later, after regular tests , she was told the cancer had returned and spread to her right lung.

In an effort to save her life, she underwent a grueling operation to remove part of her lung. But in 2022, the cancer returned again, and by January 2023 it had spread to his liver, both lungs and lymph nodes – and had become incurable. A year later, he was given the tragic news that, without treatment, he would only have months to live.

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The mother-of-four applied for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), a form of radiotherapy aimed at cancer inside the body, which she hoped would extend her life by up to 12 years – but her application was rejected.

All hope seemed lost for the mother of four until family and friends came together to form Team Chell Bell, a small but determined group of volunteers who raised money to pay for her PRRT privately. So far the group, with the help of the Wallasey community, has raised more than £60,000.

Her childhood friend Deb Blair, 42, of Team Chell Bell, said: “The community completely rallied for her. It was absolutely amazing to see what the people of Wallasey had done. Merseyside has gone far beyond what Michelle and the whole family expected in just over 14 weeks this community has managed to raise over ‘66,000 so far.

“Without the story in the ECHO, people wouldn’t have known she was going through this and people came from far and wide to fundraise for her. As a community, we have never seen anything like it. This shows that, with support, we can do incredible things.”

Michelle is due to start PRRT in August after completing a round of chemotherapy at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. A recent scan showed that the cancer in her lymph nodes had shrunk – meaning she could fulfill her dreams of jetting off to Greece for a sunny wedding with fiance Rob Morton.

Deb said: “He never thought he would get there. But I think he gained strength from what everyone did. It gave him the will to fight. He is unfaithful. I think the love, support and well wishes of everyone around can do so much for someone going through what she went through.

“When you’re fighting for your life and you’re denied funding, you feel like your life doesn’t matter. But the fact that everyone came together gave him the will to fight on. When she saw the love and support from everyone, she knew no one was giving up on her.”

The Chell Bell team are still working hard on Michelle’s behalf and have organized another charity event in the form of a 13 DJ music series at the Shakespeare Pub in Williamson Square at 6pm on 13 July.

Deb added: “In the first few weeks we struggled and thought it was going to be an impossible battle. But slowly it won. Nobody here has much, but everyone has come together to do incredible things in such a time short.

“Cancer can happen to anyone. It could be anyone facing that battle. All you need is support.”