A FORMER Dudley teacher and sportswoman - left wheelchair-bound by crippling MS - is set to head to Mexico for what she hopes will be life-changing treatment after kind-hearted friends and family rallied to raise more than £40,000.

Stacey Hurrell, a former geography teacher, charity marathon runner and top-ranking para-athlete, is set to undergo revolutionary HSCT treatment which aims to reset the immune system and stop it from attacking the central nervous system in a bid to regain her mobility.

Patients around the world have reportedly achieved excellent results after travelling to centres in Mexico and Russia for the treatment and 38-year-old mum-of-three Stacey (pictured below) feels it is her only hope.

Dudley News: Stacey Hurrell with one of her 2015  Team England CPISRA World Games gold medals

She said: "Hopefully it will stop the progression of the disease. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get a bit better. I won't be able to run marathons but I might be able to walk again which would be nice."

Big-hearted friends, family and members of the public have all helped to pay for the ground-breaking treatment at the Clinica Ruiz in Monterrey, Mexico, which involves harvesting and freezing stem cells from the bone marrow or blood, administration of chemotherapy to wipe out the patient's blood cells and infusion of thawed stem cells to reset the immune system.

Stourbridge Rugby Club held a charity match raising more than £12,000, while The Kingswinford School - where Stacey worked as curriculum leader of humanities - kickstarted the fundraising with a mufti day earlier this year.

Stacey, who was forced to quit her job in January due to the illness, has also received £12,000 in donations to her JustGiving site, £7,000 from family and friends and £5,000 from kind-hearted members of the public.

Long lost friend Michael Mogan, from Coventry, (pictured below with Stacey and her children Alex, 14, Logan, seven, and Evie, 10) also made a donation and helped Stacey to secure around £6,000 in grants (£5,000 from Pedmore Sporting Club, £1,000 from the Eileen Hartfield Trust, £500 from Marstens Brewery and £50 from Dudley Lions) bringing the amount raised to around £42,550.

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The total treatment bill will be around £45,000 plus £2,000 in follow-up care in the UK and the costs of flying her carers to Mexico to assist her during her 28-day stay.

Her sister-in law Vicki Hurrell will be at her side for the first three weeks and her dad David Rakowski will be with her for the final 10 days.

Stacey, who is set to fly out on September 9, said: "Without all this support I wouldn't be going.

"I am so grateful for the donations and well-wishes I have received and can never say thank you enough. I have had such fantastic support from family, friends and the community."

She added: "It's going to be a bit of a roller-coaster but I'm looking forward to getting it done."

Kingswinford and Stourbridge Lions have also pledged to make a donation from the proceeds of a beetle drive on Saturday September 16 at Stourbridge Institute and a quiz night at the same venue on Saturday October 14.

On her return home, Stacey will have to take care to avoid infection but once on the road to recovery she is hoping to take up volunteer work for Mary Stevens Hospice with the Macmillan Community Volunteers.