Huge show of support for Wagga mum Mel Carr in blood cancer battle

Mel Carr, a single mother of a young boy, fell ill on May 11 last year and was rushed to Wagga Base Hospital where she was told doctors suspected she might have blood cancer.

Two days later, she was flown to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where she was officially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (ALL) - a form of blood cancer.

Treatment was immediate, forcing Mel to be away from her son for long periods of time as she underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.

All had been well and Mel had planned to celebrate 12 months since her transplant, with a group of close friends last weekend, when she was told her cancer had returned.

She will now be required to undergo a second bone marrow transplant, which will see her yet again out of work for at least another year while paying rent in Sydney as she is treated there as an outpatient.

Good friend and trivia night fundraiser organiser Sam Smith said a group of Mel's friends had been brainstorming ideas for ways they could help her.

"We love trivia and we thought what a good way to raise funds for our friend," she said.

"We were brainstorming ideas of how we can help her knowing she has only returned to work for three months and will have to take at least another 12 months off with the transplant coming up.

"Last weekend we were supposed to go away for Mel's 12-month anniversary since her first transplant, because everything was going so well, and then a routine blood check-up said her cancer had returned."

Mel has been doing a new clinical trial in Sydney, which is going well, and had come home briefly but is unable to leave her home as she is immunocompromised.

"We have over $5000 worth of donations, not including what Tilly's has donated," Mrs Smith said.

"We are doing a silent auction and a raffle and the money from this will help her pay for her rent in Sydney, which is $7000 a month because she's treated as an outpatient - so that's preparing her for the next stage of her treatment, which is another transplant."

Friend and fundraiser organiser Isabel George said they had been blown away by the amount of support that had been shown to Mel.

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"Most of the people donating have reached out to us before we've had to reach out to them," she said.

"It's showing how much everyone is rallying behind her and it is so nice and she is so grateful.

"We're getting an influx of people wanting to help."

Tilly's owner Harry Vearing was quick to jump on board after he saw one of Mel's friends post about the fundraiser.

"I saw Jess Cronin share Mel's situation and I said 'Hey, we have a venue, you're free to use it and we can donate some stuff'," he said.

"It would be a terrible situation to be in, we have children too, that's why we jumped on board and we want to use our venue for community-based stuff."

The trivia night fundraiser will be held on Friday, November 17 from 6.30pm.

Tickets will be made available in the coming weeks.

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