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Kate Winslet Joins Mourners To Celebrate Mum Who Turned Down Chemo To Save Baby

Mark Cunliffe

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Kate Winslet Joins Mourners To Celebrate Mum Who Turned Down Chemo To Save Baby

Featured Image Credit: PA/GoFundMe/Helen Sproates

Kate Winslet joined the family and friends of young mum Gemma Nuttall to pay tribute to the 'determined' mother who turned down cancer treatment to save her unborn child.

The actress had helped to raise £300,000 for Gemma, so she could undergo experimental immunotherapy after her baby was born. Kate fought back tears as she attended the service in Accrington, Lancashire.

During the service, Kate paid tribute to the mum, and spoke to her friends and family.

Credit: GoFundMe/Helen Sproates
Credit: GoFundMe/Helen Sproates
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Kate said: "It is a privilege to be able to give Gemma the send-off she deserves at the end of her incredible fight.

"As a young mum, Gemma's extraordinary determination to beat her cancer for Penelope was something that deeply moved me and made me want to help.

"She was so clearly a fighter. She fought her battle and against all odds she kept proving them wrong.

Credit: PA
Credit: PA
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"But even though that has not been the case and even though Gemma didn't quite make it to 30, she did make it to Penelope's first second, third and fourth birthdays and to her first day of big school.

"They were also able to have some magical memories together which doctors thought would be impossible. In truth Gemma lived for at least 18 months longer than her specialists believed. She had more time with her family."

Gemma was diagnosed with aggressive ovarian cancer during a scan in 2013 when she was pregnant.

Credit: ITV/This Morning
Credit: ITV/This Morning
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She refused treatment as it would've meant her having an abortion, but started nine months of chemotherapy just weeks after her daughter Penelope was born.

The chemotherapy worked, but her cancer returned in July 2016, spreading to her brain and lungs.

Doctors told Gemma and her family that there was nothing more that could be done. However, after discovering alternative options in Germany, her family started to raise money for experimental immunotherapy treatment.

Kate spotted the fundraising page and contacted Gemma's mum, Helen, to help her raise enough money for the treatment.

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Kate and her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio auctioned off 'Jack and Rose date nights' at the Leonardo DiCaprion Foundation gala in Saint-Tropez last July.

Combined with money donated by friends, family and members of a the public, a total of £300,000 was raised so Gemma could have the treatment.

The former dental nurse was given the all clear in February 2018, however the cancer returned in her spinal cord along with bone cancer in some of her vertebrae, and she sadly passed away on the 14th October.

Topics: Life News, Real

Mark Cunliffe
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