A mother of two has told of her plea to reach a target of £50,000 for an operation that could save her life.

Fiona Elias from Edgware, who has multiple sclerosis, started a GoFundMe page one month ago in hopes of raising the five-figure sum to pay for treatment in Russia which could “reboot” her system.

Fiona, 34, was diagnosed with the progressive autoimmune condition in 2006. It affects the body’s central nervous system damaging the coating which protects the nerves, called myelin. 

She said the month-long treatment at AA Maximov Hospital in Moscow will involve receiving a low dose of chemotherapy used for treating blood cancer to stimulate stem cells in the bone marrow.

The cells are then harvested and frozen before Fiona receives a higher dose of chemotherapy to “obliterate” the immune system and her frozen cells are put back.

“The idea is that your body for gets the MS and reboots your system,” she said.

Fiona with daughters Nava and Orli

Hillingdon Times:

The procedure is called a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. 

She hopes to fly out in mid-November and needs to raise the £50,000 before then to pay for the in-patient treatment, flights, visas and rehabilitation when she returns to the UK. 

Fiona said she wanted to take the treatment for her family’s future after a scan earlier this year revealed new lesions in her brain. “I have two small children, Nava and Orli, who when I come home need me and I need to be their mum,” she said.

“If I can’t take care of myself then I can’t take of my children and this treatment is about being able to secure my future and their future and to be there for them growing up.”

Fiona discovered she had multiple sclerosis while she was studying in Israel in 2006 but wasn’t fully diagnosed until 2016.

She said: “I felt I was basically given a life sentence but then someone had also validated my life experience and I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

Hillingdon Times:

Fiona believes she has had the condition since she was 17. She said: “When I was 16 I had glandular fever. 

“Then a year later I literally couldn’t move my legs or get out of bed. I was taken into hospital and told I was a hypochondriac and that I simply didn’t want to do my exams. 

“Meanwhile I couldn’t walk. Eventually I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue which felt like a copout. 

“I dropped out of school and when I went back I was using a wheel chair. I needed physio and hydrotherapy to regain my strength.”

Fiona said her condition severely affects her mobility and her ability to walk has deteriorated in the last year-and-a-half. She often walks with a split and drags her foot. It also affects her balance.

She said that the worst aspect is fatigue. “I wake up in the morning and feel like I haven’t been asleep,” she said. 

Fiona works for a social care charity but had to reduce her contract to 20 hours over four days. “It affects my concentration. I literally couldn’t function, but this makes my day more manageable.”

In the first month of her campaign, Fiona raised £20,000 which she said is “phenomenal”. 

“I have got to get to £50,000 and I’ve given myself three-and-a-half months because I have been looking into this ground-breaking treatment for a while and I have been offered a place this November so need to raise it before I go.

“Everyone’s been really generous giving within their means. There have been some phenomenal donations but the fact that anybody can put their hands in their pockets despite their financial responsibilities is amazing.

“I am really grateful they are getting behind me and showing support. I am humbled.” 

To donate, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/i039m-not-msing-help-fiona-beat-ms