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Dad's Last Christmas? £80k Needed for Cancer Treatment
24 Dec
Summary
- Simon Hollister, 54, needs £80,000 for aggressive brain cancer treatment.
- He was diagnosed with Glioblastoma after experiencing dizzy spells.
- Government funding for Glioblastoma research is criticized as insufficient.
A father of two, Simon Hollister, is desperately seeking to raise £80,000 for vital cancer treatment, fearing this Christmas could be his last. The 54-year-old was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a severe form of brain cancer, after experiencing alarming symptoms like dizziness and strange smells. Despite an initial surgery removing 80% of the tumor, the disease is terminal, prompting his urgent fundraising efforts.
Simon, who has moved from Manchester to Weybridge, Surrey, is currently paying £1,000 per month for the drug Avastin, which has shown positive results but comes with side effects like short-term memory loss. Without private health insurance and unable to work, he relies on public generosity to fund further treatment. He has already raised approximately £17,000 through a GoFundMe page and selling possessions.
He emphasizes the critical need for more research and government support for Glioblastoma, noting that only one percent of brain tumour funding is allocated to this specific cancer, affecting around 3,200 people annually in the UK. Simon's fight is not just for his own survival but also to ensure he can spend more Christmases with his wife Zoë and sons Raphael and Gabriel.
