A MOTHER diagnosed with terminal cancer has stepped up her bid to get life-extending treatment as the £60,000 campaign to help her and her family reached the halfway mark.

Mother-of-three Gemma Kent was told the worst possible news at the end of May, that she had inoperable cancer of the pancreas and liver at the age of 41.

After months of battling to even get scans for the pain she was experiencing, the Tadley resident was told she had just a few months to live without chemotherapy and only as long as a year with the treatment if her body accepted the chemicals.

However, she has responded badly to chemotherapy, which she began last week, and will now be flying out to Istanbul, Turkey, today to begin receiving a type of treatment getting startling, life-extending results.

Gemma’s mum June Beere, from Basingstoke and who is travelling with her daughter, said: “Gemma has had a terrible reaction to the chemo - she got really quite poorly. So we want to get her started [with the new treatment] straight away.”

Gemma has been posting video updates on Facebook about her treatment, including an emotional, tearful five-minute-long video on Tuesday about the effects of chemotherapy treatment and her situation.

The Kent family, of husband Philip, sons Jack, 20, and Alfie 13, and daughter Hope, three, need to raise £60,000 to pay for the treatment, which takes up to six months, and to cover getting to and staying in Turkey.

The Hope for Gemma campaign, named in honour of Hope who was conceived through IVF, smashed the £30,000 barrier this week.

June added: “People have been so generous. It seems to be when Gemma posts a video blog update, we get a big surge of funding. So many people are coming out to support her.

“We are over the halfway mark now and we are really keen to try to find a business or similar to sponsor us to get the second half.”

The treatment in Turkey is a mixture of chemo with a diet, oxygenation of the blood and extreme heat.

It is hoped Gemma can undergo the treatment and have her life extended while more research is done for cures.

A series of fundraising efforts are planned in the future, including a family fun day on July 28 at Tadley Calleva Football Club from 11am, on August 12 from 10am to 4pm at the Wolverdene Club, Andover, and at War Memorial Park on September 29.

To follow the campaign or enquire as a business about how to help, search for @HopeForGemma on Facebook and to donate, go to gofundme.com/hope-for-gemma.