Pompey dad's plea for life-extending cancer treatment
Life-long Portsmouth FC fan and father of four, Stuart Minty (45), alongside his wife and an army of ever-growing supporters, is urgently crowdfunding for life-extending cancer treatment, following his terminal cancer diagnosis.
In a fundraising campaign which only began last week but has already tracked over £50,000 of its £120,000 target, the family has seen support from a range of prominent public figures including Portsmouth FC’s Marlon Pack and authors, Rob Biddulph and Vicki Broadbent.
Earlier this year, Stuart was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive and currently incurable form of stomach cancer called Linitis Plastica. Under NHS care, he can only receive 12 palliative chemotherapy treatments – 8 of which he has already undergone. After the final four, no further NHS treatments will be available.
The family is now hoping to access a privately available chemotherapy treatment in Germany called Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE), which is widely and successfully used to treat liver cancer in the UK and for other cancers including Linitis Plastica in other parts of Europe. It is not a cure, but it has the potential to extend Stuart’s life and preserve his quality of living.
Stuart’s wife, Aileen Minty, explains: “Stuart has responded incredibly well to the 8 treatments he’s had so far, but when those stop the cancer will continue to spread. It’s heartbreaking, especially when we’ve seen how much better he feels after treatment. We don't want to look back and wonder 'what if’. The TACE treatment gives us hope. It could mean more months of health, more time with his children and more memories together. We’re contributing what we can to the cost of treatment, but we can’t do this alone. The generosity we’ve already seen is overwhelming and deeply appreciated.”
Stuart’s friends and family are all behind the effort, spreading the word of the campaign and holding sponsored events across the country.