An Elgin woman who fears she has just months to live has had the date for her pioneering surgery moved forward.
But although it is good news for Isla Evans’ health, the mother-of-two now faces a desperate race against time to raise £10,000 to cover the cost of her trip to Germany for the operation.
NHS Grampian will not help fund the trip, and Mrs Evans’s condition is so rare there are no surgeons in the country who can carry out the lifesaving procedure.
She has suffered from superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS) since she was 10 but the condition is so rare that doctors in the UK misdiagnosed her as anorexic for two decades.
An obstruction to her intestine – caused by a major artery – means digesting food is an agonising process for Mrs Evans and it has now started to compress one of her kidney as well.
Mrs Evans has now pinned her hopes on survival on Professor Wilhelm Sandmann carrying out the procedure in Duisburg, Germany, but to ensure she is still healthy enough to travel, she has been told she will have to go on July 16.
The 31-year-old launched an online campaign to raise £16,000 by mid-July to cover expenses, but her collection so far stands at just over £7,200 and now she is appealing for people to help.
Mrs Evans said: “Because my kidney is now being compressed, Professor Sandmann wants the operation done sooner rather than later.
“I would not be able to fly out if we left it much later.
“I’m just really worried that I won’t have the money to afford the trip, as I appreciate this is a very big ask of people.
“I don’t think it’s impossible, but I worry it could be too much of a challenge.”
Mrs Evans’s husband and full-time carer Sean has been canvassing local businesses in an attempt to generate donations, which can be made via www.gofundme.com/nahu68
On Saturday the Mackintosh School of Dancing, which Mrs Evans used to attend, is staging a fundraising line dancing evening in Elgin’s Bishopmill Hall at 8pm.
The town’s High Street’s Cadora chip shop will open on Sunday especially to collect donations. Staff will give their time for free, and half of the day’s takings will go towards the appeal.