Charity makes £10k pledge to send Scots mum-of-three battling life-changing illnesses to US for treatment

A Glasgow charity has stepped in with a whopping £10,000 donation to help send a mum-of-three battling two life-changing debilitating illnesses to the US for vital treatment.Danielle Gardiner – known to family and friends as Dana – has been fighting Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) – a condition that causes fainting, blackouts, dizziness, palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath and headaches, as well as other symptoms.To compound matters, the Falkirk mum is also battling Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) – a condition that can cause seizures, difficulty with movement, speech issues, problems with vision and hearing, and pain – including chronic migraines.With Dana’s condition worsening, and with no improvement in sight, it was decided that Dana would fly out this month, instead of March, to try and provide her with relief from symptoms.However, the fundraiser was still short of its £75,000 target.

That’s when the Glasgow-based charity, The Emmie Smillie Charity Foundation, stepped in with their eye-watering donation.The charity was set up by the Smillie family to assist families living with cancer in 2016 after the passing of Emmie, who tragically lost her life to the disease the year before.

She was just 34-years-old when she died.Dana has been left relying on a wheelchair as she is unable to work and carry out everyday tasks, as she searches for a breakthrough.With no treatment for the conditions available via the NHS, friends and colleagues took on a fundraising mission to send her to a clinic in Arkansas for treatment.

Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. The bill for the essential treatment will cost in the region of £75,000 when Dana flies out later this month to