A man who has terminal brain cancer has lost more than £3,000 of equipment after a fire ripped through his prized allotment garden.
Mark Woodcock, 51, who lives in Clifton and has one son, was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma four years ago on May 16, 2016.
He was originally given nine months to live and was forced to quit his newly established business in guttering and aerial fitting, which was just beginning to take off.
His wife, Nicola, said her husband was typically very active before his diagnosis and had therefore been using his prized allotment in Merevale Avenue to "escape".
But on Saturday, May 23, a blaze spread through the garden, destroying everything in its path, including his new shed which had around £3,000-worth of power tools and equipment inside, plus a new solar panel for power.
"Because of my cancer it was my escape from the house," Mr Woodcock told Nottinghamshire Live.
"We were living in a house and we had a massive back garden there, but we lost the house and we ended up private renting. That's why I got the allotment.
"I do not know what happened. We had gone home about half past two and at around 6pm we got a call saying the allotment was on fire.
"Some people down there tried to put it out but it went right up."
Mr Woodcock says he believes it may have been deliberate or caused by a cigarette, with the fire originating from a corner of the allotment near the fence.
Nothing in his shed or the allotment was insured and everything was completely destroyed, including areas of the allotments owned by others in the area.
His wife Nicola, 47, says it was their fifth wedding anniversary on the very day the devastating fire happened.
She added: "We've known each other since I was 16, we went out together and then we went our separate ways.
"Then we met again seven years ago and we got married five years ago. A lot of the time we've had together he has had the brain tumours.
"The purpose of the allotment was for Mark because he was such an active guy. He got diagnosed when he had his first seizure and he got told he could not drive or work, so I had to come up with a solution.
"He has been through seven cycles of chemotherapy. He struggles with his memory. The allotment gave him something to look forward to.
"One man has been down here 30 years and his shed went up. But people have been donating us tools and plants, the people in the village of Gotham have been amazing."
