FRIENDS, family and kind-hearted strangers have rallied round to raise thousands of pounds to help fund alternative treatment for a young woman with cancer.

Katherine Amin, who is known as Kate, was diagnosed with bowel cancer and secondary liver cancer in March at just 36. She has undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy but her husband Nathen said they were hoping to boost her latest cycle of treatment with an alternative drug, Avastin, not currently provided on the NHS.

Kate's friend, Lucy Chapman, from Holme on Spalding Moore, created a crowdfund page to raise £18,000 for the treatment, which has so far raised more than £15,000.

Avastin works by blocking the protein and stopping cancer from growing blood vessels, making it starve and unable to grow. There is evidence that this treatment could help Kate, but it is not cost effective enough to be fully funded through the NHS.

A minimum of six sessions of the drug are required and cost £1,500 each. Thanks to the donations already made, Kate has been able to receive treatment straight away.

Nathen said: “Unfortunately the treatment we have had so far has not worked as we would have liked, so we’re hoping to boost her latest cycle of chemotherapy with this drug that isn’t given on the NHS. We are incredibly thankful for all the support given so far, and Kate in particular is overwhelmed on a daily basis by the generosity of friends, family and even strangers.”

Kate and Nathen had been married just over two years when she was diagnosed, said Lucy, who met Kate 13 years ago when they started working at Woldgate School in Pocklington together.

Lucy said: “I think we all have wanted for a long time to feel like we can do something to help her but that’s the thing about cancer, everyone feels so helpless. This was one way everyone could be useful and simultaneously show Kate that we care.”

Kate’s love for Christmas is well known, from her December wedding to Nathen to her Christmas-themed Hen do, they even celebrated a half Christmas on June 25.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/help-kate-kick-cancer