A dad battling a rare cancer will fly to Germany for a pricey "miracle" treatment after his local community raised over £15,000 in a matter of days.
Norman Savage, 60, from Ashington, Northumberland was told he had a massive tumour growing in one of his kidneys in October last year.
He then underwent surgery to remove the 2.5kg rare soft tissue sarcoma.
The form of cancer is curable if detected early, but full remission becomes less likely as the growth becomes larger.
But the operation was a success and his family thought he was recovering well before being given a series of devastating updates at his six-month check up, Chronicle Live reports.
Doctors told Norman he now had tumours latched to both lungs and this time it was likely terminal.
With no further treatments available on the NHS, his family set up a fundraiser to fly him to Germany for a course of expensive immunotherapy in the hopes of saving his life.
Daughter Jessica Savage, 30, told the Chronicle: "He seemed so well, he's always been a very fit and active person.
"He was back golfing, he looked good, he felt great - but we were told he had cancer in both lungs."
The NHS feared Norman's new diagnosis would have to "managed" rather than cured.
A friend had recently undergone immunotherapy, provided by doctors in Germany, and family wondered if it might offer him a ray of hope - if they could fund the pricey treatment.
Jessica said: "Dad was a bit indecisive so I thought he needed a bit of a push, so I just set up a Go Fund Me page and it picked up such great traction: in just over 10 days it made over £10,000, and that was just the right push he needed to get him to Germany."
On Sunday, October 10, less than two weeks after Jess first made the appeal to help her dad, Norman and wife Susan were flying out to Germany, beginning his treatment on Monday.
Hundreds chipped in what they could, sending messages of support and encouragement to popular Norman. It's given hope Norman's family, which also includes son Lewis.
Jessica added: "The doctors are convinced that because it's such an early stage, by the time he gets his next scan with the NHS in Novemeber he will be the miracle man, it will all be gone.
"It's been a whirlwind: he was diagnosed in September and we were told it was stage four terminal and it would be more a case of managing it and waiting until it gets bigger.
"It was terrifying, he thought 'well that's it, the cards are marked now' - it was just awful.
"But now it's fingers crossed, you don't know until you give these things a go: there's huge success with immunotherapy, and while he could be one of the ones that have no success it's just a case of trying."
Jessica said the whole family were "very grateful" for the flood of donations and all the support from Norman's friends, as they continue to fundraise to cover the full cost of the treatment.
She added: "Thank you to all of you who have supported Norman and the family over a very turbulent year. The generosity and well wishes have been incredibly kind and have been a great source of hope."
Donations can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/norman-savage
