A Tweed-based former police officer who is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer is seeking public help, owing to her treatment not being covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Her friend Chris Perrin set up a GoFundMe page up to help Marina, and says she is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer, Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC).
He says, ‘Marina needs to concentrate on getting well and her recovery, not medical bills. Funds will go towards paying for an immunotherapy drug that she is trying after a failed chemo attempt. The immunotherapy drug is currently covered by PBS for ‘other’ cancers, but not for ACC, which is classified as a rare or ‘other’ cancer.
‘Marina is starting treatment next Friday, 20 February, and it will cost her $3,500 per treatment. She will start with one treatment every 3 weeks for at least 3 months. This will then be reviewed to see if it is working, and if so will continue.
‘Marina dedicated 24 years to the NSW Police Force before leaving with PTSD. ‘After leaving the Police her passion for service to the Community continued and she joined Disaster Relief Australia as a volunteer. Marina has also been acting for about 12 years. She is married and has two adult children and two grandchildren. Her life has been spent helping others and it’s time we returned that favor by helping her and David with the expenses of her treatment.
‘I have spoken to Marina about this and while she didn’t want to ask for help, after a chat I convinced her to let us help with her bills’.
To help, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-marina-with-her-medical-expenses?cdn-cache=0
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
