A DOTING dad battling inoperable cancer could now benefit from expensive but life-changing treatment for as long as two years after more than £50,000 was raised, leaving his family "blown away".
James Burrow, 40, of Earls Colne, was diagnosed with the Stage 4 bowel cancer in May 2022, and has since endured invasive surgeries and battled numerous health complications.
In a bid to improve her husband's quality of life, wife Nicky, 32, launched a fundraiser with a view of generating £25,000 for a year's supply of a private drug known as Bevacizumab or Avastin.
According to Nicky, the cost of a treatment every two weeks is roughly £1,000.
Amazingly, within just two days of launching the campaign back in December, the GoFundMe page had already raised £35,000.
Since then, however, an additional £16,183 worth of donations have flooded in, bringing the total to more than £50,000 in less than a month.
Nicky said: “I just can’t put it into words, we had a donation on Christmas eve of £5,000, that was amazing, we weren’t expecting that.
"It’s just the fact everyone is taking the time to read our story and donate - we are blown away.
“We’ve doubled the amount needed for a year’s worth of the drug, it might be now that we can look at other options, there might be some medication, trials or treatment abroad, things we hadn’t considered.
“But our focus is the drug as hopefully it will stabilise the cancer and get it under control.
“The comfort the money provides us gives us that boost to go into the New Year feeling positive and that we have a plan in place and a bit of control.”
After the cancer spread to James’ liver, a major bowel obstruction caused by the tumour was discovered, leading to surgery which left him with a stoma.
The father-of-two, known as Jim, has since endured chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Covid-19, and extreme pain caused by the tumour pushing on the nerves in his back and rectum.
In November and December last year, James spent several weeks in St Helena Hospice but was thankfully able to return home to his wife, and their children Archie, 8, and Izzy, 4.
The family were able to enjoy some normality at Christmas and had a “lovely” time, before James started his first course of Avastin on January 2.
To donate visit tinyurl.com/9c7am75p.
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