THE mum of an 18-year-old girl who needs a life-saving heart and double lung transplant is desperately trying to raise funds to be at her bedside.
Gemma Tutin has been suffering from respiratory illness pulmonary fibrosis since she was six and doctors have now warned she has just 18 months to live if she does not have the surgery.
But because she has just turned 18, the NHS classes her as an adult and will not cover the costs for her family to travel with her to Papworth Hospital, in Cambridgeshire, where specialists will perform the complex operation.
Friends, strangers and local businesses are all stepping forward to help Lorraine Maring – pictured with Gemma – raise the £5,000 she needs to be at her daughter's bedside during the three months she will be in hospital.
Miss Maring, of Stockhill Crescent, Old Basford, said: "Ever since she was diagnosed, I've been to every hospital appointment she's had. There's no way I'm not going to be there for her.
''I'll take a sleeping bag and stay on a bench outside her room if I have to," she added.
Miss Maring wants to stay in Cambridge with Gemma's three-year-old brother Lucas Light, who would need a crèche. Her other siblings – Thomas and Louise Tutin, 16 and 15, would stay at home with their grandparents and visit at weekends.
"The accommodation is going to cost £3,000 for three months, and the crèche is going to cost £2,000, so we're doing what we can to try to raise the money," she said.
Gemma is on the NHS waiting list for a double heart and lung transplant. She will be given the organs of someone who has died after joining the Organ Donor Register.
The nature of the operation means it is better for the teenager to have her heart and lungs replaced together, but her own heart is still healthy enough to be donated to someone else in need – meaning she may be able to help save another life.
She said: "Someone is saving my life so I can save someone else. I'm nervous but excited. There are lots of things I'm looking forward to being able to do after the operation; just having a normal life.
"I've got a to-do list – just things like walking to the shop, swimming without my oxygen and learning to ride a bike.
"I'd like to go to California, and see the Northern Lights as well."
The NHS can only offer financial support to parents of under-18s staying far from home.
A spokesman for NHS England said: "We understand that when patients are being treated at specialised centres far from their homes it can be difficult for families.
"However, as we all know, the NHS has limited resources and focuses on the high-quality treatment of patients, which has to be our priority.
"Although it is our policy to provide additional support for parents of children who are being treated at centres that are out of area, we have to draw lines somewhere, and when a patient is legally an adult that assistance for parents stops."
Two local businessmen have said they will donate around £1,000 each to the cause in connection with two fundraising events for the family.
One of the businessmen helping out is Adrian Brown, from Lightning Strike – a lightning protection company based in Bulwell.
He said: "I always try to do what I can to help out and my wife is friends with one of Lorraine's friends, so when I heard about Gemma, I wanted to help. We're only a small company but we're going to donate at least £1,000, probably more; if I could pay for the whole lot I would."
Mr Brown will be presenting a cheque at a charity Christmas party which is being held at Oakley Lodge in Highbury Vale on December 20, from 12pm to 5pm. Tickets cost £3 and can be bought on the door.
And Mark Wilson, of Nottingham Chimney Sweeps, has pledged £1,000 to another fundraiser, which will see 40 friends of the family accompanying Miss Maring and Gemma as they go around the city centre dressed as chimney sweeps on December 14.
Mr Wilson added: "It's nice to do your bit, but hopefully she can recover and spend the rest of her life in good health."
To get involved in fundraising, email gemmatutin@googlemail.com, louiseharrison16@hotmail.co.uk or call Louise Harrison on 07875 563986.
