A story of deep determination and maternal love is mobilizing a chain of solidarity. The protagonist is Jessica Scarpa, a 36-year-old mother who has received a terrible diagnosis: metastatic pancreatic cancer that has also affected her liver. Jessica’s top priority is to be able to spend as much time as possible with her children, Thiago and Leone, two twins who are only 3 and a half years old. After having survived a long pancreaticoduodenectomy surgery lasting over 10 hours and 12 cycles of chemotherapy, the disease returned aggressively, pushing the family to seek therapeutic alternatives abroad.
@Gofundme
The hope linked to Daraxonrasib and the cost obstacle
The opportunity to slow down the course of the disease is represented by Daraxonrasib, a drug aimed at inhibitory action on specific cellular proteins responsible for tumor growth. The medicine obtained its first approval in the United States and a positive preliminary evaluation in Europe, highlighting an extension of survival times in clinical studies. However, the treatment has a very high monthly cost, equal to approximately 45,000 euros (40,000 dollars), since the molecule is not yet included in the handbooks of the National Health System through the Italian Medicines Agency.
The GoFundMe campaign and the local response
To support the therapeutic expenses necessary to purchase the therapy, Jessica activated a crowdfunding campaign on the GoFundMe platform. The mobilization quickly exceeded the amount of 75,000 euros donated, supported by the charitable initiatives organized by the mothers of the San Gottardo nursery school in Torre de’ Busi, in the province of Bergamo, where the family moved. The primary objective of the fundraising is to guarantee Jessica continued access to treatment, while waiting for health institutions to evaluate the future reimbursement of the drug for patients suffering from advanced pancreatic diseases.
The role of raising awareness and the value of sharing
In addition to the direct economic contribution, the family is asking for maximum diffusion of the campaign through social channels. The visibility of the story serves to raise public awareness of the difficulties in accessing innovative drugs and the approval times for high-cost cancer therapies. Each sharing of the collection page represents concrete support to allow a mother to continue the treatment process and spend as much time as possible with her children.
