Elizabeth Palmer, the mother of Jamaican athlete Akeem Bloomfield, has Stage 4 cancer and the 2019 World Championship 400m finalist has started a GoFundMe account hoping for public support to assist with medical expenses.

Bloomfield, the first Jamaica high school athlete to run faster than 45 seconds for the 400m, and who now trains with MVP International in Florida, revealed the devastating news on his Instagam account today, saying he found out on Sunday.

“I found out on Sunday morning that my mom has stage-4 breast cancer that has spread to her bones,” he said.

“She was first diagnosed in 2018 but she kept this information from her children because she was protecting us. Her cancer has broken down her spine so bad that she is now paralysed from the waist down.

“She has to undergo surgery to fix her spine before she starts chemotherapy in the hopes of saving her life. The medical expenses are a lot and me and my family will be doing as much as we can to help remedy the situation, however, the medical bills are too much for us to handle alone.”

Bloomfield directed his followers to a link on his Instagram page leading to the GoFundMe account to help his mother.  

The family is seeking to raise US$65,000 and had so far received just over US$9,000.

“Any support helps, even if it’s just sharing the GoFundMe and whispering a word of prayer for her,” the distraught athlete pleaded.