Fundraiser for Post Office worker with terminal cancer to go home

Sussanne Craig worked for the postal service in the Gorbals area of the city before having to fight rectal and lymphoma cancer, with doctors unable to offer a cure.

Now her community has rallied round the 54-year-old as her family fundraise to bring her home from The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

They are trying to raise £20k to make her home more accessible as she relies on a wheelchair and faces too many steps to enter the property, she also can’t get through the doors inside.

Sussane with family when she was feeling better. (Image: Sourced)

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Her son Conner Whiteside, 27, told the Glasgow Times: “My mum is a big part of the community, she works in the Post Office and even while fighting cancer liked to show her face as much as she could.

“We launched the GoFundMe to try and help pay for special adaptations so she can come home and be as comfortable as possible.

“She had bought her ex council house a few years ago to provide security for her family, but now we don’t have money to pay for a stair lift or ramp for her.

“People have already been so generous and we really appreciate it, we just want to bring mum home.”

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Sussanne became ill two years ago after tests discovered her rectal cancer, which then sadly spread to her lymph nodes.

She underwent surgery but her condition began to deteriorate as complications built up, and recently has been left unable to walk.

Now she is spending her time with her family who want to make her as comfortable as possible.

She is getting care at The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, which offers support for people with life limiting conditions.

The GoFundMe says: “With our mum now in a wheelchair and what feels like mountains of stairs, she has no way to get in and out of her own house, and a ramp or stair lift is going to take some considerable work to build.

“Our mum bought her house under the Right-to-Buy scheme, hoping it would give the family some security, but this now means the local authority won’t fully fund any work.

“Despite the family pressing for help with access, they have told us the works are very complex and we haven’t had an update for a couple of weeks. If they were to take on the work, given the planning required, it seems unlikely that it will even begin by the time our mum needs it.

“Every day, it looks increasingly likely that our mum will need to source her own solution to get in and out of her house in her wheelchair.”

The family have raised around £5k of their £20k target which will help contribute to accessible home adaptations.

They are also looking for special grants and charities who can help them with the renovations for Sussanne before it is too late.

Conner added: “We are trying to get help to cover the adaptations and my mum really wants to make the information available for other people battling similar experiences.

“Everyone in the family is doing their best for my mum and pulling on whatever resources they’ve got.

“My sister Maiyah’s only 15 and she’s even trying to do her bit by organising some fundraising events for next February.

“We have had to find everything out from scratch on our own which has been hard, I want to make it easier for others and raise awareness about how hard it can be to secure funding.”

You can donate to the family GoFundMe here.