Maeve Fanning needs £11,000 a month to pay for private treatment
14:43, 01 Sep 2025Updated 16:14, 03 Sep 2025
Mum-of-three Maeve Fanning needs to raise money for life-saving cancer treatment
A Birmingham mum with three young children is fighting for her life after being diagnosed with stage four cancer – after initially thinking she had indigestion.
Maeve Fanning had just started a new job, her middle child had settled into primary school and life was great.
Her doctor prescribed indigestion tablets but she found she was becoming increasingly breathless, to the point where she needed to sit down when she reached the top of the stairs.
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A CT scan on Christmas Eve 2024, and additional tests, revealed the devastating news that she had cancer.
But it wasn’t until February this year that she was told ‘every mother’s worst nightmare’ – that she actually had a rare cancer called thymoma and that it was stage four, advanced and inoperable.
At just 38, she has been given less than two years to live. Her three children – Oonagh, Cormac and Ciaran – were just eight, four and 18 months and have had birthdays since their mum has been in hospital.
Maeve Fanning, her husband Paddy and three children are raising money for life-saving cancer treatment
“It was a massive shock and just devastating,” said Maeve, from Kings Heath.
“My youngest was just 18 months old and at the time I wasn’t sure if Christmas 2024 would be my last with them.
“It’s a horrendous situation, every mother’s worst nightmare and this is why I need to do everything I can to ensure I am still here for them.”
Starting palliative chemotherapy in a bid to prolong her life, CT scans showed a good response after three rounds.
But sadly, after the fifth round, the chemo stopped working and she began getting worse.
Maeve and her husband Paddy worked tirelessly to try to find a way for her to beat the cancer.
They discovered a private treatment that was getting good results so, three weeks ago, she began treatment in London – at a cost of £11,000 a month. It includes hyperthermia, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, curcumin infusions and light therapy.
Please donate to Maeve’s GoFundMe page here to help her raise the £100,000 she needs.
Maeve Fanning, her husband Paddy and three children are raising money for life-saving cancer treatment
“It’s extortionate but the treatment is showing it is potentially curable,” she explained. “There are people who have gone from stage four to stage zero.
“I just want to see my beautiful children grow up. I am trying absolutely everything to ensure I am alive and healthy to see that.
“My eldest is only nine. Two of them had birthdays in January when I was in hospital. They know I have cancer but they have no idea how serious it is because we’ve played it down, just telling them I’m getting treatment and I will get better.
“They know I have to have medicines and that I’m in and out of hospital a lot. It’s made them really clingy, it’s changed them.”
Maeve says Paddy’s employers Jaguar Land Rover have been really supportive as have her employers in her new job in pharmaceutical sales.
Fortunately, her mum and dad live round the corner and they have lots of support from friends and family.
“It’s made me enjoy every day with my children. We don’t have to be racing around doing day trips and ticking off things we want to do.
“Just being with them is what matters, it’s not always the big, amazing things, it’s the little moments together that are important.”
Maeve Fanning having fun with her older children
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How to donate to help Maeve and her family
Maeve’s friend Eileen Perrins set up a GoFundMe page for the family at the end of August and they have already raised more than £41,000, thanks to the huge generosity of people’s donations.
But Maeve needs around £100,000 for the full cost of her treatment so there’s still a long way to go.
“I’m quite a private person. Not many people knew about my cancer and, those that did, didn’t know my prognosis. So the thought of doing a GoFundMe filled me with dread.
“But it’s been a bit like pulling off a plaster for me and now I’m so glad it’s done. I’ve had an amazing response, so many lovely messages, so many donations.
“Please know that every single contribution, no matter the size, is making a huge difference. I’m deeply grateful for this incredible community rallying around me.
“I have enough now to pay for my treatment until Christmas, which I am so very grateful for, but I need to keep raising more to continue the treatment.”