Gran forced to crowdfund her cancer treatment

Carol Player said she had to raise £40,000 for each chemosaturation treatment

A grandmother has turned to the public to try to help her raise tens of thousands of pounds to fund her cancer treatment after the NHS told her they would not.

Carol Player, 60, from Streetly, Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, has a rare form of cancer but was told the health service cannot provide chemosaturation.

She has already raised more than £65,000 since August but said "I never envisaged having to do anything like this but I have no choice".

NHS England said the treatment could have serious complications and they were not required to make it routinely available.

Ms Player's health issues began in 2015 after she accidentally sprayed perfume in her eye during a shopping trip in Birmingham.

She had her eye checked and during the examination was diagnosed with ocular melanoma which led to her eye being removed.

Five years later, doctors found the cancer had spread to her liver and, at first, she was treated with chemosaturation through a clinical trial.

"This treatment is so effective. The last three treatments gave me three years in remission with no negative reactions," Ms Player said.

'It's heart-wrenching'

Chemosaturation uses a device to temporarily isolate the liver and then deliver chemotherapy drugs straight into it, removing them 30 minutes later, which allows a stronger dose to be given.

NICE, the government organisation which decides whether the NHS should fund medicines and treatments, recommended the treatment's use but only for research purposes, NHS England said on its website.

“Chemosaturation can have serious complications and NICE guidance does not require the NHS to make it routinely available," an NHS spokesperson added.

Ms Player said, after the end of the trial, she had to find about £40,000 per session.

She said the situation was "heart-wrenching".

To fund the last round of treatment, Ms Player said she had cashed in her pension, used up life savings, her husband's inheritance and now relied on donations from the public.

After four years in remission, the cancer returned this year and Ms Player restarted her fundraising efforts, raising more than £65,000 so far, almost enough for two chemosaturation treatments.

"It's just exhausting at this stage," she added.

"When you need the treatment, you need it right away. Trying to pull together that sum of money is just impossible without the help from the fundraiser."