I don’t want to die like legend Tommy
Celtic fan in bid to raise £12k that will pay for skin cancer treatment
A DAD whose battle with skin cancer is inspired by Celtic hero Tommy Burns has launched a fundraiser in a bid to get treatment to save his life.
Desi Mcilroy was diagnosed with malignant melanomas for the fourth time in four years just a few weeks ago. The 66-year-old Celtic fan was then told the cancer had spread to his liver and lungs and there is nothing NHS medics could do to help him. The retired courier driver, from Gartcosh, near Glasgow, is trying to find £12,000 to fund another round of immunotherapy that will allow him to be treated privately as part of clinical trials. Desi’s daughter Erin, 38, says he is remaining positive thanks to the example of former Celtic player and manager Burns, who died of skin cancer in 2008.
The cabin crew worker said: “The last four years have been terrifying for my dad.
“Celtic is his life and he watched Tommy Burns die at 51. He says, ‘I don’t want to die like Tommy’.
“The NHS has exhausted all measures, so we need to go private to be eligible for any future immunotherapy treatment through clinical trials.”
Desi was the first Scottish cancer patient to be part of an NHS clinical trial of TIL therapy, a type of immunotherapy that uses tumour cells to destroy a tumour.
He was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2016 after his wife Teresa, 68, found a suspicious mole on his back.
He had spent summers working outside with no top or sunscreen on when he was a construction worker and said doctors sent him for six sunbed sessions 15 years ago to help with psoriasis.
Erin said: “We are not going to let this beat him.”
To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-my-dadby-giving-him-what-hegave-us