Sam Cane's 54th test jersey, which he auctioned to raise money for Napier women Julia McNicol. Photo / Supplied
An All Black jersey worn by Sam Cane has sold for $4000 to help a 60-year-old Napier woman fund her life-saving cancer treatment.
Julia McNicol is battling a rare and aggressive skin cancer, and the treatment drug Keytruda that could cure her of the disease isn't funded by the Government.
The mother-of-four needs $83,000 to fund 17 infusions of the drug.
Cane's jersey sold for $4000 in an online auction at 8pm tonight. Cane has played with Julia McNicol's son, Sam McNicol for the Chiefs.
McNicol's diagnosis was made earlier this year after a cut on her finger, from an accident in the kitchen, wouldn't heal.
She underwent surgery to partially amputate her finger and a lymph node was removed from her armpit in April.
A biopsy from this operation confirmed that Jules had stage 3 Acral Melanoma.
The medical advice McNicol received was for her to commence a 12-month treatment of the new cancer drug Keytruda, but she would have to fund it herself.
The treatment was fully-funded by Pharmac for people with advanced stage 3-4 melanoma, which has spread and cannot be removed by surgery.
But for McNicol, whose cancer had not yet spread, the drug costed $69,000, and $790 would also need to be paid for each of the 17 infusions given every three weeks.
A Givealittle page has also been created for McNicol's treatment and has raised more than $53,000, as of Friday morning.
The auction closed at 8pm on Thursday night. Cane wore the jersey in his 54th test for the All Blacks.
Dublin civil court hearing finds MMA star ‘brutally’ assaulted Nikita Hand in 2018.