Blackpool man in frantic race to raise £40k to save fiancé from brain tumour
“I want to marry her. This is a forever kind of thing. But the priority right now isn't to get married, it's to get her well enough so we have some form of future.”
A Blackpool fiancé is appealing for help to raise £40,000 to send his 27-year-old partner to Germany for potentially life-saving cancer treatment.
Danny Broadbent, from Blackpool, is racing to raise funds for his fiancé Amberlin Alaina, who desperately needs specialist treatment in Germany.
Explaining Amberin’s condition to the Gazette, Danny said: “She was initially given nine to 12 months to live, but she qualified for a trial drug called ONC201. She achieved 40 per cent shrinkage up to May 2026, so we were incredibly hopeful.
“But a couple of months later she became symptomatic, her left-hand side of her face started dropping and she started leaning towards one side. We went in for an emergency scan and unfortunately a microscopic part of her tumour had grown.
“The original one continues to shrink, but this new one is something we don't know whether the current trial drug will be able to deal with.”
Because of this recent tumour, the only option for Amberin is to receive a new treatment called Dendritic cell therapy in Germany. Unfortunately for Danny and his family, the total costs of the treatment are £40,000, which has led to him creating a GoFundMe to help cover the high costs.
All the latest news and top stories from across Blackpool and the Fylde coast directly to your phone.
Never miss a thing. Click here to join
Dendritic cell therapy has a 65 per cent success rate for patients with Ambrin’s type of tumour, with 79 per cent of those patients achieving full remission. This, according to Danny, is why the treatment is so vital for Amberin.
“This could quite literally save her life, and at the bare minimum, because of the high percentage chance of it working, we're hoping it gives us more time together,” he added.
“The best possible scenario would be to be included in that 79 per cent of people who achieve full remission. Then you're going to get a version of Ambrin where she's very much back to her normal self.
“At the moment, she has good days and bad days, but she's like a breath of fresh air, to be honest with you. She hasn't moaned once. She just takes everything in her stride. She's honestly an inspiration to anyone going through this kind of thing. She just keeps fighting and fighting and fighting.
“I didn't get down on one knee to not marry her. I've been with her a few years now, and I'm not going anywhere. I want to marry her. This is a forever kind of thing. But the priority right now isn't to get married, it's to get her well enough so we have some form of future.”
Danny says that the support he and his family has received has been ‘inspiring’, with everyone pulling together to help support Amberin. Spago, the popular Lytham restaurant, is planning a fundraiser meal to help support Amberin’s treatment fund.
The GoFundMe has raised over £8500, but Amberin needs the treatment by October, so time is beginning to run out. “Please don't stop sharing. Please don't stop donating. Please don't stop caring. Please just keep supporting us,” Danny appealed.
A link to the GoFundMe can be found here.