Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are helping a 28-year-old mother who was diagnosed with cancer.
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are auctioning off a dinner with them in order to help cancer survivor Gemma Nuttall raise the money she needs for treatment.
In an appearance on This Morning, Nuttall talked about how she discovered a lump on her head that soon turned out to be stage-four cancer. She had begun her new job and dismissed the headaches she was experiencing as nothing more than new-job jitters. Though, after two weeks, she realized something was wrong and went to see a doctor. She was given surgery, but a year later the headaches returned.
“I had a seizure and that brought up that there were eight new tumors,” Nuttall said. “So, I started some treatment over here, but by this time my mom had found on the internet a clinic in Germany.”
At this time, the doctors were telling her that it would be best to make a will and finalize plans. Her mother was determined to help her, though. The treatment in Germany, though it has seen great results, cost 30,000 Euros for the first round and any follow-up treatments could begin at 80,000. Nuttall’s mother began funding the treatments herself by setting up a GoFundMe page for Gemma. “I didn’t know how I was going to do it because I knew how much it was going to cost. But at the end of the day, when you heard what we heard, you don’t think about it, you just do anything,” Nuttall’s mother said.
About a month after the GoFundMe page had been live, Nuttall’s mother had received an email from Kate Winslet’s PR team “explaining that Kate had seen Gemma’s page, and from one mother to another, she decided that she thought, like myself, she couldn’t let her die.”
Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio helped raise awareness through various charity events throughout Los Angeles, which includes a dinner with the two of them. Entertainment Tonight reported that at this year’s auction gala put on by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, people will be able to make bids on dinner with the duo and all proceeds will go to Nuttall’s treatment costs.
On Nuttall’s GoFundMe page is a note from Winslet stating:
“Gemma needs further urgent specialist cancer treatment in Germany. Without it, she will die.
I have been in communication with Gemma and her lovely mum Helen, for a while now. And we are all so thrilled that we were able to send Gemma off to the Hallwang for her first round of treatment. I will continue to assist with her costs, but we do still badly need your donations. Join me in supporting this 28-year-old Mum! Let’s truly do our best to keep her alive for her 3-year-old daughter Penelope, who loves and needs her Mummy so much. We might be able to save her life with these desperately needed funds for this essential treatment. So spread the word out there! Let’s all tell as many people as we know, and please keep the words of support coming and the incredibly generous donations coming.
Everyone deserves the best chance at life, let’s all try to help Gemma and Penelope have theirs!”
When asked what she would say to Winslet, Nuttall responded, “I would at least thank her for saving my life, and I just said to the news that we would probably just have a good chit-chat about everyday things. She would probably want to take my mind off it,” she said with a smile.
The hosts then announced that Winslet was on the phone. Winslet explained that she lost her mother last year to ovarian cancer and she and her family went through similar experiences with trying to find new treatments in Germany and elsewhere around the world. So, when Winslet stumbled upon Nuttall’s story, she knew she had to help because she understood that it would be years before Nuttall would be able to receive that kind of treatment through the NHS.
She then mentioned how she came across Nuttall’s GoFundMe page and saw how much money still needed to be raised. “I just thought my mum would be incredibly proud if I could do this for somebody else – for another young mum,” Winslet said.
Given that she raised more money for Nuttall than was requested, the women will now be teaming up to start an organization that aids people in the same position.
Nuttall then thanked Winslet for saving her life, to which Winslet replied that she couldn’t be more honored to find her and her mother and to be able to help her.
If you’d like to learn more about Nuttall and her case, you can visit her GoFundMe page found here.