A woman whose potential treatment for a rare cancer was stopped due to the pandemic is in a race against time to raise money for life-saving care.
Kerry Williams previously had surgery to remove a tumour to save her sight at the Royal Liverpool Hospital in 2016, after she was diagnosed with ocular melanoma.
The 59-year-old artist from Chester now needs chemosaturation therapy after the cancer spread to her liver, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Kerry was told in March last year she would only have a year to live if she didn't receive the treatment
But an NHS clinical trial of chemosaturation has been put on hold indefinitely due to the pandemic.
That means Kerry and her husband Mark Wigan have to raise £240,000 for six rounds of treatment themselves.
"We were devastated to learn the cancer had metastasised to the liver and to hear the treatment was not available on the NHS made things even harder,” said Kerry.
"A trial with extremely successful results had been running in the UK since 2016 but in March 2020 it was indefinitely stopped due to capacity issues in the NHS as a direct result of the pandemic."
Chemosaturation of the liver has reduced and stopped tumours in over 60 percent of patients with metastatic ocular uveal melanoma. It is hoped that the NHS will make a decision on resuming the treatment but Kerry cannot afford to wait.
So far Kerry has raised £80,000 via a GoFundMe page which has helped pay for her first two treatments along with support from her family and friends. She now needs to raise another £40,000 for two more rounds of treatment due in the next six weeks.
"I am so grateful to those who have already supported me but unfortunately, I now need to ask again so I can continue the treatment, which costs £40,000 a time," she said.
"The results from the first two treatments have been very encouraging and have stabilised the tumours and I am hoping with further treatments the tumours will shrink which could significantly prolong my life.
"Ideally, you need six treatments but at the moment I am just focusing on trying to raise enough for my third treatment, which ideally I need within the next six weeks.
“It does seem unfair that there is a treatment known to work but is essentially only available to those who can afford it.
"My hope is if I can raise the money for my third treatment it may then have passed the clinical trials, otherwise I will need to raise yet another £80,000. I am staying positive as hope is all I have.”
She continued: "There is a 60 to 80 percent chance of the treatment being successful. Chemosaturation therapy isolates the liver with a high dose of chemotherapy, in most cases it stops tumours growing and in some cases, they disappear.
"It can stabilise and reduce the growth of the tumours and give longer life expectancy. Without it, the oncologist gave me a year to live."
Her husband Mark said how the news the treatment was not available on the NHS right now came as another blow for them.
"We feel incredibly grateful to all those that have donated to the fund so far as everyone is having such a hard time at the moment. It's been overwhelming," he said.
"People have been so supportive and kind. However, because the treatment is so expensive we have to keep up the fundraising campaign.
"Any donations small or large towards the costs are really appreciated, we ask people to share the fundraiser to as many people as possible.
"The treatment not being available on the NHS makes our lives so much more difficult. The diagnosis was hard enough to deal with."
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