Hannah Foxley, director of London-based The Women’s Wealth Expert and Foxley Financial Consulting, has turned to crowdfunding in an effort to raise funds for her cancer treatment, after being told that orthodox medicine will not help.
The Chartered financial planner who specialises in financial advice for women started chemotherapy on 20 February, just 10 days after being rushed into hospital.
Having used her savings to establish her own advisory firm after previously fighting cancer, Ms Foxley turned to crowdfunding to raise the £25,000 she needs to raise to pay for her alternative treatment, nutritional needs and to go to a medical clinic in India that specialises in treating people with serious illness that have exhausted orthodox options.
She has so far raised £23,000 to fight cancer for a third time. Ms Foxley praised fellow advisers who have offered to help running her firm while she battles the illness.
Ms Foxley added: “I have people doing their own fund raising to support me. Efficient Paraplanning (my paraplanning support) have set up a GoFundMe page. .
“The guys at PortfolioMetrix are doing a sponsored bike ride to raise cash for me as well. I also have other people who are raising money for me outside of the industry.”
The adviser, who posed naked for Cosmopolitan magazine following a mastectomy, was told by doctors that the cancer is “so advanced” that there is no cure using orthodox medicine and she is currently enduring chemotherapy.
Ms Foxley said: “The chemo can only slow down the rapid division of the malignant cells.
“I am very limited as to the drugs they can give me as I did not respond to the last two lots of chemo the first time round. I do however believe that I can cure this by taking a holistic approach.
“I see chemo as a mechanism to slow things down enough to buy me some time do the other work that I need to do.”
If Ms Foxley raises more funds than she needs, she has pledged to pay it forward and find someone else in her position who needs help to raise money for medical treatment.
She said depending on the level of additional funds, she may also give the cash to either the Macmillan charity or a charity called CancerActive, that researches everything to do with cancer both orthodox and non-orthodox.
While undergoing chemotherapy treatment, Ms Foxley said she has been able to rely on her support team at Efficient Paraplanning.
She said: “As time goes on, I will get a sense of the support required. At the moment, I quite enjoy doing the odd client meeting as it brings a sense of normality to my crazy world.
“I put what little money I had into starting my business when I finished my last bout of cancer treatment. I started with nothing, no clients, no brand, no business partner, no investment and very little cash.
“It was a huge leap of faith, I just followed my gut instinct as I truly believe that there is a need for what I provide and I am starting to be proved right. As we know, it takes time to build a business and a reputation, especially when working with lawyers.
“I have put my heart and soul into this and I am just starting to see the pay back. I am at a stage where that trust is starting to bear fruit and the level of referrals is increasing.
“I have every intention of getting well and growing my business but for now, I just need it to tick over and be a little choosy about what I put my energy into. I am lucky in that I have and continue to attract really lovely clients.”
Ms Foxley was a contributor to FTAdviser’s guide to pensions and divorce.
