A family are raising funds to help their mother battle cancer after her partner lost his job.

Meghan Heady, 30, has launched a fundraiser with sister Lora, 32 and brother Stephen, 39 for mum Maxine, who suffers from stage four bowel cancer.

Maxine, 62, was first diagnosed when she lived in Spain.

She moved back to Pippin Road, Burnham, so that she could spend time with Meghan’s children, Olive, four and Uma, two.

Meghan, of Tenterfield Road, Maldon, said: “Whilst the move was underway she became too poorly to continue and ended up in hospital in Spain, this is where we found out that it was cancer.

“My sister and I managed to get a flight over and arranged for her to get back home with us safely.

“Once she was back here she spent a lot of time in and out of hospital having various different tests.

“She was very poorly at this point and it was a scary time for all of us.”

Maxine’s partner Tody recently lost his job as a chef and the couple are in desperate need of cash to support them while she undergoes treatment.

The family set a target of £1,000 to help the couple, however Meghan says they could need more.

She said: “In a situation like this you feel absolutely helpless.

“I suffer with chronic pain with fibromyalgia, so I am limited to what I can do physically but we want to help so badly.

“It would mean so much to all of us to be able to make my mum’s life a little bit easier in these hard times. Cancer is already hard to deal with, without the added stress of money.”

Maxine undergoes chemotherapy and immunotherapy at Broomfield Hospital, and she has to make regular visits to St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon to flush a catheter into her arm which helps carry blood to the heart.

She is attached to the line 24 hours a day.

So far the family has raised £595 from generous donors in the community, which will help Tody and Maxine stay afloat for a short time while he is looking for work.

Maxine has had to change her whole lifestyle to help battle the disease.

Meghan said: “She has cut out meat, fish, dairy and eggs, and tries to eat as much alkaline as possible.

“She takes various supplements and also THC and CBD paste.

“These treatments cost a fair bit of money.

“We have done what we can between us all but my mum is too poorly to work.”

Maxine is expecting to undergo an operation at the beginning of next year with the hope that it will help her return to normal life and to work.

To help Maxine and Tody, go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/meghan-heady.