Cancer nurse fighting to raise £40k as NHS won’t pay out for her treatment
SHE has devoted her nursing career to caring for cancer patients who are being treated on the NHS.
But Laura Harris is having to crowdfund treatment for her own terminal cancer – because the drug she needs is not available on the Health Service.
The 42-year-old, a mother of two, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January last year but was told that there is no treatment available and given only three months to live.
Despite her illness, she stunned colleagues by returning to her work as a specialist oncology nurse at the North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple to carry on caring for other cancer patients. After enduring hours of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, however, doctors have now told her that her options and time are running out.
Mrs Harris believes that a new drug named Bevacizumab may offer her the chance of some more time, but only if she can urgently raise £40,000 for two rounds of treatment.
Trials have shown that Bevacizumab, also known by its brand name Avastin, can stop the progression of the cancer for an average of three months.
In some cases of bowel cancer, the drug has been found to prolong life expectancy by as much as three years.
Mrs Harris, who lives in Barnstaple, said: ‘ As an oncology nurse, I’m only too aware of what I’m up against, but I’m not finished on this Earth just yet.
‘I still feel I have so much more to give and I hope this treatment will buy me some extra with my family. This last year has been the hardest of my life but we are so grateful for the support we have received.’
Mrs Harris has a husband, Paul, two children and a stepson, and is also continuing to act as a carer for her elderly mother. An online fundraising page set up to help pay towards her treatment has already raised nearly £15,000. As part of the money- raising efforts, friends will take part in a spontime sored bike ride on Good Friday. Nurse Hannah Sunderland, a colleague of Mrs Harris, said: ‘Laura has devoted her life to caring for cancer patients, even returning to work against all the odds, but now she needs our help. At this moment, every second is precious.
‘We urge everyone to give as generously and as quickly as possible so we can help this wonderful nurse, wife, mother and daughter have more time with those who love her so much.’
Bevacizumab works by targeting a cancer cell protein called vascular endothelial growth factor. The drug blocks this protein and stops the cancer from growing blood vessels, so it is starved and can’t grow.
Patients are usually given Bevacizumab every two to three weeks and treatment normally continues for as long as it controls the cancer.