Kate Winslet has helped “save the life” of a young mother by auctioning off a dinner with herself and her Titanic co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Yes, Jack and Rose!
“There are miracles out there and this is one of them,” Kate recently told British daytime TV show This Morning about her decision to help cancer patient Gemma Nuttall, 29.
Gemma, from Lancashire, England, was newly-pregnant when doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. But rather than accept the drugs that could potentially save her life, the dental nurse declined treatment as it would have terminated the life of her unborn baby.
“She saved my life, she was the reason my cancer had been discovered,” Gemma said of her decision. “I felt I had to repay the favour.”
Gemma welcomed her daughter into the world at 26 weeks, but was soon given just six to nine months to live and placed on palliative care. But she refused to give up and launched a fundraising campaign after hearing about a so-called wonder clinic in Germany could save her.
It was here that the Oscar-winning actress, who had been researching the same clinics in response to “a very poor prognosis” for her mother, Sally, who died in May 2017, came into the picture.
“I just thought ‘I can’t have this happen,'” Kate said in a surprise phone call to the studio, which left guest Gemma shocked. “My own mother was very, very unwell, and I just thought my mum would be incredibly proud if I could do this for somebody else, for another young mum.”
WATCH: Kate and Leo have shared a special bond since their first role together, all those years ago. Post continues…
Kate contacted Gemma’s mother, Helen Sproates, 56, and together they set about gathering funds.
“It was just amazing,” Kate said, clearly emotional. “We got close to £200,000 (A$ 354,000) and at that point I thought, ‘Right, it’s time to call my friend Leo’.”
“I phoned Leo and I said, ‘Do you think we could do a charity dinner or something?’ And he said, ‘Let’s go one better. Come with me to St. Tropez, to my big fundraiser for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation,’ which is back in July, ‘and we will auction off a dinner with Jack and Rose.'”
Kate and Leo managed to pull together a whopping $1.35 million (A$ 1.7 million), which was split equally between the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and Gemma’s cause.
The Titanic costars wound up auctioning three dinners with ‘Jack and Rose.’
Gemma has now been declared cancer free, and she credits the Heavenly Creatures star with saving her life.
“I just want to say thank you so much for all your hard work and for me being able to have my treatment that I really did need. You saved my life and I just want you to know that,” she said.
Kate added: “So, so much good has come out of this remarkable moment. I mean look at Gemma. Look at her. She is so beautiful. She is alive. She is cancer-free. It is utterly incredible. I feel so blessed that I could help.”
Our hearts!
