GoFundMe appeal to help Luton man raise cash to pay for lifesaving cancer treatment

A man from Luton is raising funds to help pay for life saving cancer treatment in Japan.

Matt Chugg, 48, says the ‘bottom dropped out of his world’ when he was diagnosed with a rare form of Ampullary Cancer in June.

And while a six-hour surgery to treat the cancer was a success, Matt’s lymph nodes and nervous system were affected – meaning there’s a high risk the cancer will return.

Matt said: “I have a beautiful family: a wife, a five-year-old son and a 23-year-old step daughter, all alongside a caring extended family and some great friends and colleagues.

“At the beginning of June this year my luck started to turn. I went to a walk-in GP service and was immediately referred to the A&E with jaundice that I didn’t notice.

"Inside a week, following urgent scans and tests, I was informed I may have cancer affecting the liver and or pancreas. As you can imagine the bottom dropped out of my world and anyone who has any understanding of cancer knows the likely outcome of pancreatic cancer.”

Matt is currently undergoing chemotherapy, which he started in September, but after the second cycle he was hospitalised for a weekand needed a three week break to recover.

He explained: “My dosage has been reduced and I have just finished cycle 3, this is not great for my reoccurrence prospects. The last few months have been a real rollercoaster with a tsunami of different emotions, tests, to surgery, to chemotherapy.

“No matter how positive I try to be, I still cry at the prospect of telling my beautiful little boy I will be going away not to return. I worry about my family because they are financially dependent upon me, it’s all just an absolute nightmare.

"It feels so unfair, I’m relatively young, I keep reasonably fit and I still love playing football; I’m hoping to indoctrinate my son as a Liverpool fan. The surgeons confirmed that they do not know why this cancer occurs, it’s not due to any known lifestyle factors, I have simply been unlucky.”

As Matt doesn’t qualify for UK Immunotherapy trials, he is hoping that the alternative is a form of Adoptive Cell Transfer therapy – specifically Dendritic cell therapy that boosts the immune system to fight cancer cells – and is hoping to raise £25,000 to pay for the treatment in Japan.

He added: “I have a window of opportunity now that I may not get again to boost my immune system, by accessing a scientifically proven treatment that may save my life, but I don’t have the money.

"Cancer survival rates are significantly higher in Japan, Germany and the USA for a reason. The NHS is wonderful but it has constraints and I do not wish to die because of them.

“Like most people I want to see my son grow up, he came along later in life and he is now my reason for everything.

“Please, please, please help me realise my dream of being able to support and protect my son, so I can see him grow into a much better person than I could ever be.”

You can donate at Matt’s GoFundMe page.