THE family of a terminally ill mother are working tirelessly to raise money in order to make the time she has left as special as possible.
Sharon Taylor, 52, from Christchurch, was working for the NHS last year before being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and given a prognosis of just 6-12 months to live.
Thankfully she has exceeded that, however, it is "unknown" when that day may come.
Her health is "declining a bit more every day" as she is unable to walk more than a couple of steps and needs a ventilator 24/7.
Her daughter Ashleigh, 27 and her son Ben, 25 have been impacted "in a lot of ways" by their mum's diagnosis.
Ashleigh said: "You never think anything like this will happen to you or any of your family.
"The past 16 months have been so difficult. It felt like such a huge shock."
After Sharon was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease her daughter Ashleigh took on the role of looking after her mum full time.
Sharon worked for the NHS for nine years as an HCA and a Phlebotomist, a mixture of working in hospitals and GP surgeries.
She has spent most of her life in and out of hospitals after being diagnosed with Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis when she was just 13 years old.
Ashleigh said: "My mum lost her partner not long after Christmas 2018 due to him falling into a diabetic coma early hours of the morning, although he was never actually formally diagnosed with diabetes.
"They weren’t married but I know that he had told one of his friends he was planning to propose that year before taking her to New York, but obviously, that didn’t happen."
Ashleigh is "desperate" to raise enough money to allow her mum to visit family in the Lake District and to purchase the equipment she needs.
Ashleigh said: "Mum is declining a bit more every day, we are urgently trying to raise the money to be able to go up north for a week to see all of our family that she hasn’t seen for a long time.
"We need to do this before she isn’t able to anymore. It’s getting exhausting for her now so we need to try and get her up to see all of her family as soon as possible."
In order to get up to see family, special transport is required to get Sharon there alongside the cost of accommodation. Ashleigh also hopes to get her mum an EZ access inflatable bath.
You can donate to the GoFundMe fundraiser here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gofund-mum-help-us-to-create-cherished-memories?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_zlg8+gofund-mum-help-us-to-create-cherished-memories
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