Help save a life and win a glove signed by Barry McGuigan - tickets still available for charity draw

Richie is seeking to raise £600 towards a £120,000 appeal to fund lifesaving treatment for Jamie Scott, who suffers from a rare form of cancer.

He enrolled the help of popular former world boxing champion McGuigan, who appeared in the last series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. 

First prize in the draw is a glove signed by the former WBA featherweight champion, with a signed programme from a recent public appearance in Cannock being offered as second prize. Two posters signed by former WBC super-middleweight champion Richie are also being offered as prizes.

Richie, who also lives in Telford, decided to step in after hearing the story of Jamie Scott, who may only have months to live unless she can raise £120,000 for ground-breaking cancer treatment.

"I told Barry we were raising money for a lady who has cancer and he was delighted to help in some way," said Richie.

For every £2.50 donation made on the website justgiving.com/crowdfunding/leeandrichiehelpjamie , the donor will be given one entry in a prize draw.

The draw, which is being organised in partnership with charity fundraiser Lee Ellis, will take place on Friday. Richie has raised thousands of pounds for cancer organisations since the death of his father Len from the disease in 2015. 

Jamie, 48, suffers from ocular melanoma, a rare and very aggressive form of cancer which has now spread to her liver and lungs. She says her only hope is a treatment called chemosaturation, which is awaiting approval for use by the NHS. 

"The reality is, this may take another 12-18 months, and I might not have that long before the cancer wins," she said.

Jamie said the treatment was available privately at a cost of £40,000 per cycle, and she would need at least three treatments to have any chance of survival. She has set up a crowdfunding page to fund the treatment, which has so far raised just over £3,300.

"I do not have enough savings, nor any means of accessing private healthcare or pension funds to cover this cost," she said.  

"My time is running out. I am turning 49 this year. Chemosaturation may be the only treatment that helps me see 50 and beyond."

Jamie was first diagnosed with the condition in June 2011, and had her right eye removed within a few weeks. 

"That was some shock, because who knew eye cancer was thing?," she said. 

Jamie, who was 35 at the time, was told the risk of it spreading was high, but for the next 10 years she lived effectively cancer-free.

"And sure enough, just as I hit the 10-year mark, I got the call I’d been dreading," she said.

"In November 2022, my worst fear was confirmed that the cancer had spread to my liver and lungs. 

"I genuinely thought I was out of the woods, and was totally crest-fallen. People talk about having a proverbial rug pulled out from under you. I suddenly knew what that felt like."

Since then, she had two procedures to surgically remove the cancer, but in January 2024, further lesions were found in her liver.

" I have been on immunotherapy treatment since March 2024 and recent scans have unfortunately confirmed the treatment is not helping enough," she said.

"The cancer is still growing. Since there are currently no other immunotherapy drugs available to me, my oncologist, who is incredibly experienced, suggested a treatment called chemosaturation."

The treatment involves temporarily isolating the liver from the blood supply, and then applying chemotherapy in much higher doses than would otherwise be possible. Once the liver is reconnected, blood leaving it is filtered through a catheter before it re-enters the body.

Jamie said chemosaturation has been recommended for approval since 2021, but because it was classed as a 'medical device' rather than a drug, the approval process takes much longer.

Richie has raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities since losing his father Len to the disease in 2015.