Jaimee Sharp, the partner of Paul Gascoigne’s son Mason, has shared images of her brain tumour and surgical scar as her family appeals for £320,516 to help her access treatment in the United States and spend more time with her five-year-old son, Teddy.
The 28-year-old has been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable IDH1-mutant, CNS WHO grade 4 astrocytoma. She has already undergone major brain surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible and is receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
In a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday, 2 September, Ms Sharp included a scan showing the tumour and an image of the scar left by her operation.
“Everyone deserves as much time as possible. Please keep showing as much love and support as you are,” she wrote alongside the post.
Mason, who was adopted by the former England footballer as a child, launched an appeal for help after doctors offered his partner the chance to join a clinical trial at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
The TarGet-D trial is investigating the drug olutasidenib in patients with high-grade gliomas carrying the IDH1 mutation. Although the treatment is not presented as a cure, Ms Sharp says it could give her more time with Teddy.
She said in the fundraising appeal that the tumour was expected to progress even after standard treatment, adding that the median survival rate for the condition was about five years.
“More than anything, I desperately want more time with my little boy,” she wrote. “Being Teddy’s mummy is my whole reason for existence. And I’m not ready to say goodbye.”
The family says the trial drug itself will be provided, but the medical monitoring, scans and tests required in America are not covered. An estimate from Nationwide Children’s Hospital puts those costs at about £170,516.
The total target also includes approximately 21 return flights between the UK and Ohio, accommodation for repeated three-day visits, specialist travel insurance and other expenses over the proposed two-year period.
Ms Sharp says she has only four weeks to raise the money, with the trial treatment expected to begin alongside the next stage of her chemotherapy in around seven weeks. The associated medical costs would need to be paid 21 days before treatment begins, according to the family’s appeal.
“I accept that there is no cure for my cancer, but there is an opportunity for more time – and I need that,” she wrote.
“I need to watch my son’s smiles and laughter on more Christmas mornings. To be there for more birthdays, and to watch him become the young man I’ve always imagined.”
At the time of the family’s latest appeal, the GoFundMe campaign had raised £172,257 towards its £320,516 goal.
Mason said the support had already made a difference to Jaimee, describing the response as “incredible” and saying it had given her hope and a sense of community.
“We’re trying to achieve this goal so we can have the time we deserve with her and she has time she deserves with her five-year-old boy,” he said in a video appeal.
Mason and Jaimee welcomed Teddy in March 2021, making Paul Gascoigne a grandfather for the first time. Mason’s sister Bianca, who was also adopted by Gascoigne, has a daughter, Blake Sunshine, born in February 2023.
