Jungle star Barry McGuigan steps in help £120,000 appeal for Telford woman's lifesaving cancer treatment

The former WBA featherweight champion, who appeared in the jungle during the last series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, 

Former WBC super-middleweight champion, Richie, who also lives in Telford, decided to step in after hearing the story of Jamie Scott, who may only have months to live unless she can raise £120,000 for ground-breaking cancer treatment.

And when he joined McGuigan on stage at an event in Cannock, he got the former WBA featherweight champion to sign a glove and programme which is now being raffled off to raise funds for her treatment.

"I told Barry we were raising money for a lady who has cancer and he was delighted to help in some way," he said.

Jamie, 48, suffers from ocular melanoma, a rare and very aggressive form of cancer which has now spread to her liver and lungs. She says her only hope is a treatment called chemosaturation, which is awaiting approval for use by the NHS. 

"The reality is, this may take another 12-18 months, and I might not have that long before the cancer wins," she said.

Jamie said the treatment was available privately at a cost of £40,000 per cycle, and she would need at least three treatments to have any chance of survival. She has set up a crowdfunding page to fund the treatment, which has so far raised just over £3,300.

"I do not have enough savings, nor any means of accessing private healthcare or pension funds to cover this cost," she said.  

"My time is running out. I am turning 49 this year. Chemosaturation may be the only treatment that helps me see 50 and beyond."

Jamie was first diagnosed with the condition in June 2011, and had her right eye removed within a few weeks. 

"That was some shock, because who knew eye cancer was thing?," she said. 

Jamie, who was 35 at the time, was told the risk of it spreading was high, but for the next 10 years she lived effectively cancer-free.

"And sure enough, just as I hit the 10-year mark, I got the call I’d been dreading," she said.

"In November 2022, my worst fear was confirmed that the cancer had spread to my liver and lungs. 

"I genuinely thought I was out of the woods, and was totally crest-fallen. People talk about having a proverbial rug pulled out from under you. I suddenly knew what that felt like."

Since then, she had two procedures to surgically remove the cancer, but in January 2024, further lesions were found in her liver.

" I have been on immunotherapy treatment since March 2024 and recent scans have unfortunately confirmed the treatment is not helping enough," she said.

"The cancer is still growing. Since there are currently no other immunotherapy drugs available to me, my oncologist, who is incredibly experienced, suggested a treatment called chemosaturation."

The treatment involves temporarily isolating the liver from the blood supply, and then applying chemotherapy in much higher doses than would otherwise be possible. Once the liver is reconnected, blood leaving it is filtered through a catheter before it re-enters the body.

Jamie said chemosaturation has been recommended for approval since 2021, but because it was classed as a 'medical device' rather than a drug, the approval process takes much longer.

A total of four prizes are up for grabs in the raffle, which is being organised in partnership with Lee Ellis, who has worked with Richie for several of his other fundraising activities.

For every £2.50 donation made on the website justgiving.com/crowdfunding/leeandrichiehelpjamie , the donor will be given one entry in a prize draw. First prize is the glove signed by Barry McGuigan, with the programme being offered as second prize. Posters signed by Richie will be third and fourth prizes. The draw will take place on St Patrick's Day.

Richie has raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities since losing his father Len to the disease in 2015.