![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1_HVR_MEN_310325_gemmasmall.jpg\")
Baby Samuel was born in early February of this year, and the couple were thrilled with their \u2018lively\u2019 little one(Image: Handout)<\/p>\nGemma, 33, was given the devastating news that she has incurable cancer just weeks after giving birth to baby Samuel \u2013 now she needs \u00a3200,000 for treatment that will give her the vital chance she needs to make precious memories with her little boy while she canBaby Samuel was born in early February of this year, and the couple were thrilled with their \u2018lively\u2019 little one(Image: Handout)<\/p>\n
The mother of a two-month-old baby is desperate for life-prolonging treatment after she was diagnosed with incurable cancer.<\/p>\n
Gemma Small, 33, was given the devastating news that she has incurable cancer just weeks after giving birth to baby Samuel. The crushing diagnosis came after she battled cancer in the back of her eye in 2022, and was told by doctors that treatment had worked and that there was a low chance of the illness returning.<\/p>\n
Now, Gemma and her partner, Ciaren Hughes, also aged 33, are raising \u00a3200,000<\/a> to pay for treatment that might extend Gemma\u2019s life. They hope the treatment will give her the vital chance she needs to make precious memories with their little boy while she can.<\/p>\n Gemma was diagnosed with uveal melanoma three years ago after going to the opticians. At first, optometrists believed Gemma had a detached retina, until specialists uncovered that she was actually suffering from a cancer at the back of her eye.<\/p>\n The cancer diagnosis came as a huge blow for Gemma, who had already spent several years being diagnosed and struggling with other complex, debilitating conditions \u2013 including lupus. Doctors told the couple, who live in Horwich, that uveal melanoma is not normally a cancer that appears in someone so young.<\/p>\n Gemma, an early help worker, was sent for proton beam therapy. \u201cGemma had already been suffering from a lot of other conditions, including lupus, a blood condition, a broken hip. The last seven years have been really up and down with Covid-19<\/a> thrown in there as well.<\/p>\n “You can never be 100% sure, but the doctors believed the treatment had done the job and killed the cancer off,\u201d said Gemma\u2019s partner, Ciaren.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they said that if there\u2019s one place it can come back, it\u2019ll be the liver, so Gemma was sent for scans every six months.\u201d<\/p>\n After hearing that Gemma was cancer-free, the couple were tentatively excited to start planning for the future, including beginning a family. \u201cWe gave it a while and made sure the scans were coming back fine,\u201d said Ciaran. In spring of 2024, their dreams came true.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got the joyful news that we were expecting a baby boy,\u201d continued the dad.<\/p>\n \u201cGemma even had a scan in between finding out we were expecting and before our son was born and there was nothing showing up.\u201d<\/p>\n Baby Samuel was born in early February of this year, and the couple were thrilled with their \u2018lively\u2019 little one. Then, tragedy hit.<\/p>\n Gemma went for another scan just weeks after giving birth and the results showed a sinister shadow on the new mum\u2019s liver.<\/p>\n \u201cGemma even left me at home for that scan and went on her own, we thought there\u2019d be nothing,\u201d explained devastated Ciaren. \u201cWe were just immediately filled with shock and dread.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were trying to tell ourselves it could be anything. But when a 33-year-old is found with something on their liver, it\u2019s normally not something pleasant.\u201d<\/p>\n Gemma was sent to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool for further scans and was told the melanoma had spread \u2013 and it is incurable. The only option for the young family is to try and get treatments that can give them as much time together as possible.<\/p>\n But test results have left Gemma stuck, revealing that there are no viable treatments available on the NHS<\/a> because of the complexities of her other long-term conditions, says the family. The \u2018only option\u2019 the family has been left with is to try and raise money for a private treatment at The Christie cancer hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel robbed,\u201d says Ciaren. \u201cWe understand that this isn\u2019t something that\u2019s going to disappear.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can only get as much time as possible and as many memories as possible. And in that time, Gemma will likely be going through gruelling treatments and operations.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_HVR_MEN_310325_gemmasmall2.jpg\")
Gemma went for another scan just weeks after giving birth and the results showed a sinister shadow on the new mum\u2019s liver(Image: Handout)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_HVR_MEN_310325_gemmasmall3.jpg\")
Gemma was sent to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool for further scans and was told the melanoma had spread \u2013 and it is incurable(Image: Handout)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_HVR_MEN_310325_gemmasmall4.jpg\")
The crushing diagnosis came after Gemma battled a cancer in the back of her eye in 2022, and was told by doctors that treatment had worked and that there was a low chance of the illness returning(Image: Handout)<\/p>\n