Londoner raises £60k in six days for German ovarian cancer treatment in ‘buy another day of my life’ campaign

Newly married: Anastasia Leslie needs pioneering cancer treatment in Germany
Anastasia Leslie
Fiona Simpson25 February 2017

Generous donors have pledged £60,000 to “buy another day of life” for a young woman who was told by doctors that her cancer treatment had stopped working.

Anastasia Leslie, 29, was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in January 2015 when she was just 27.

The real estate worker realised there was something wrong when flights between her native Russia and the UK for work put pressure on a tumour and left her in agony.

She was rushed to hospital with her now-husband Stewart by her side suffering severe stomach pains and weeks later received the devastating diagnosis.

Wedding day: Anastasia and Stewart Leslie (Anastasia Leslie)
Anastastia Leslie

Despite getting the all clear after having her left ovary removed and undergoing a course of chemotherapy, Mrs Leslie’s cancer returned a year later.

And, in January this year she was told by medics at the Royal Marsden in West Brompton that treatment was no longer working.

She told the Standard: “When they told me it really knocked me back. It’s not something you expect to here. I want to live.

“When you get the news, all your life dreams come crashing down but the hardest of all was the fact that I will never be able to have children of my own.

“It's like running into a brick wall at 120mph."

Young couple: Anastasia and Stewart Leslie with Barley the beagle
Anastasia Leslie

Mrs Leslie and her husband married in Turkey in September 2015 after he proposed on a ferris wheel in Nottingham.

She added: “We were living in Nottingham with Stewart’s parents at the time and we had been to see a film.

“We have a tradition where we go on a ferris wheel in every city we visit and he was asking me to go on but because of the treatment I was tired and didn’t want to go.

“He convinced me and on the second lap he was down on one knee, and I said yes.

"I didn't expect to be married so soon but it made sense.”

Exploring together: Anastasia and Stewart enjoy travelling together
Anastasia Leslie

The couple, who live in Earls Court, with beagle Barley, are now battling to save Mrs Leslie’s life with targeted chemotherapy, available in Germany.

The treatment, which pinpoints weak spots in tumours, will cost around £120,000, including travel costs.

In a bid to raise the cash Mrs Leslie set up an online gofundme page asking friends and family to ‘buy a day of her life’.

She wrote: “Think about if you were told your life is ending, how much would you pay for another 100 years of life, how much is another decade worth to you?

“How much would you part with for another year of your life? If you could buy one more month or one more day, what would it be worth to you?

“A day doesn't seem long but when you don't want to die it's the most priceless thing in the world…

“If you are a billionaire you would pay hundreds of millions or maybe even a billion...or if you are homeless you would give your last penny...if you had nothing you would give your clothes or your hair...your two front teeth...”

Generous donors have pledged £60,000 in just six days to help Mrs Leslie live.

She said: “I didn’t expect it at all. I am so so grateful, it is overwhelming and so encouraging.”

The couple will travel to Germany for Mrs Leslie to undergo a biopsy later this month before embarking on potentially life-saving treatment.

To donate click here.

For more information on ovarian cancer click here.

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