NI mum Laurene crowdfunds her own 'lifesaving' treatment in Romania after being 'left to die' by the NHS

Since the age of 13, Laurene Agnew has suffered from debilitating pain caused by endometriosis, a condition where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body.

“For years, I was dismissed by doctors. I was told the pain was “in my head,” that I had a “low pain tolerance,” or that it was simply “a bad period”,” said the 35-year-old woman from Omagh, who lives in Bangor with her husband Chris and children Alex, 4, and Ella, 6.

To date, Laurene, a project manager, has endured eight surgeries to manage her condition, spending £45,000 of her own money privately on the last three alone. When her son was four months old she had a hysterectomy.

"I’ve spent everything I have fighting this illness. My husband, Chris, and I sacrificed our wedding, our honeymoon, and years of savings to fund my surgeries. We haven’t been on holiday in over a decade because all of our resources have gone into my care.”

In May 2024, Laurene’s health took a turn for the worse.

“I developed Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, my bowel began bleeding, and I started losing weight at an alarming rate. I’ve shed over 14kg, now weighing just 74.4kg. Despite this, I was dismissed and referred to a support group. Not a specialist, not a multidisciplinary team—just a support group, designed more for people with eating disorders. It's a disservice to me to be in the wrong place, and it's a disservice to people with eating disorders that I would ever be placed among them.”

Laurene added: “My bowel is damaged so my food passes through me so quickly that I’m unable to absorb nutrition. During severe flares, I experience bowel incontinence which has been utterly dehumanising. I went to take my child to school and I defecated whilst walking.

“Doctors here in Northern Ireland believe my worsening symptoms are tied to my endometriosis and the damage it has caused. But there’s a catch—there is no specialist in Northern Ireland equipped to treat complex endometriosis cases like mine. Despite my desperate efforts to secure a referral to a specialised centre in England, I’ve hit roadblock after roadblock. There’s no oversight of my care, no one to piece my symptoms together holistically. I feel abandoned by the system meant to help me.”

Faced with no options, Laurene took matters into her own hands and decided to crowdfund for treatment abroad.

"Within two weeks, I identified a consultant in Romania, raised £25,000 via a GoFundMe in just four days, and received a diagnosis that Northern Ireland’s healthcare system had missed entirely. I have nerve damage, something my local doctors failed to investigate or even consider.

"Imagine being so failed by your country’s healthcare system that you have to rely on strangers to save your life. That’s my reality—and it’s a stark example of the crisis facing women’s healthcare in Northern Ireland. How can a government allow women to fall through the cracks of a healthcare system so broken that we have to rely on crowdfunding to save our lives?"

She added: “On Christmas Day, a renowned consultant in Romania, Dr. Mitroi, rang me to say he had reviewed my case. He believes my endometriosis has caused extensive nerve damage, particularly to the nerves responsible for bowel function. He proposes surgery to: excise the remaining endometriosis; repair scarring and adhesions from previous surgeries; and perform nerve surgery to restore bowel function.”

Laurene said that without this surgery, her condition will worsen.

"My bowel function may be irreversibly damaged. I may lose control of my body entirely. Time is running out. Recently, my son was crying and said, “Mummy, I’m worried that you’re going to die?” because even at four years old, he sees the toll this has taken on me. My children deserve a healthy mother. I deserve the chance to live without this constant fear that my body is shutting down. My children should not have to fear their mother will die at 35.”

Laurene pointed out that women in Northern Ireland wait an average nine years five months for an endometriosis diagnosis.

"For someone in her mid-20s trying to conceive, those years can mean the end of her fertility window before a treatment plan even begins. Women are being robbed of their futures, their quality of life, and in some cases, their lives entirely.

"Endometriosis has already taken so much from me—my health, my independence, my ability to fully enjoy life’s milestones. But I’m determined not to let it take my future.”

Laurene added: “It should shame this government that the women of Northern Ireland have to fight for their basic right to healthcare. It should humiliate the NHS that we’re crowdfunding for life-saving treatment abroad. Women in this country are being failed so profoundly that they are forced to rely on the kindness of strangers to save their lives.”

Laurene is schedule to have her treatment on February 5, 2025 at the Bucharest Endometriosis Clinic in Romania and will have to stay in the country for at least 10 days afterwards to recuperate.

She believes that had she not secured the funding for treatment in Romania she would have “been left to die”.

"I 100 per cent believe they would let me die. No doctor is overseeing my care. My muscles are wasting away. My bowel is shutting down.

Laurene added that her experience has had an immense impact on her mental health.

“It's been really hard, but there's a very local, active endometriosis community in Northern Ireland who have been so inspiring and uplifting. However, after my last hospital admission I came home and I sat on the floor and I looked at my husband and I said, ‘I can't do this anymore. And if I thought you could do this without me, I wouldn't be here anymore’. Because to not eat for weeks, to feel your muscles cramping, to feel exhausted, to not be physically strong enough to lift your own child as a mother is a cruel thing.”

Laurene said she is hugely grateful to everyone who has contributed towards her treatment.

"I feel an immense amount of gratitude for the people that have come forward to support me and also, as a result of that, a certain amount of responsibility now because they've very generously given to me to save my life and to make it better, that I want to make sure I don't just run off to Romania and come back. This has to count for something and there cannot be another person boarding that plane as so many women in Northern Ireland have had to go to Romania because they couldn’t get treatment here."