THE father of a teenager battling cancer has said the actions of those who have stolen charity boxes to raise money for her treatment are ‘tantamount to attempted murder’.
Martin Turner’s distress stems from the fact that four collection pots raising money for his daughter Kelly, 17, have been stolen from around their home town of Dover in one week.
Two men have since been arrested in relation to the theft: Craig Dunn, 25, from Dover, appeared at Medway Magistrates Court on Friday and was released on bail, and 33-year-old James Pope, of no fixed address, who remains in custody. It is not thought the two individuals are acquainted.
Kelly needs £1million for specialist treatment at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York for a rare form of cancer called Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour. She is currently being kept alive by chemotherapy and an expensive medicine which is not available on the NHS and costs on average £2,600 a month. Without the specialist
treatment in America, Kelly is expected to only live for another 12 months.
Commenting on the thefts, Mr Turner said: “It is quite a depressing thought that someone will steal these for their own means.
“We are all gutted because we are desperately trying to save Kelly’s life. So to me these thefts are tantamount to attempted murder.
“Some people can be just awful, and I hate the ones who did this.”
Kelly’s fund received a huge financial boost when Hollywood star James McAvoy donated £50,000, helping the fund to reach over £580,000 in total.
You can donate to Kelly Turner Fundraising at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kelly-turner2000
