Teeing-off to keep a cancer sufferer alive (From Herald Series)

Teeing-off to keep a cancer sufferer alive

9:00am Tuesday 9th September 2008

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A CHARITY golf tournament is being staged to raise funds for an Abingdon father who is one of the victims of Oxfordshire's cancer postcode lottery.

Father-of-three Andy Crabb, 49, has renal cancer and is one of 20 patients who has been denied the life-extending drug sunitinib.

Mr Crabb, a self-employed builder, and his 57-year-old wife, Dianne, have been forced to pay £3,300 every six weeks for the treatment.

Mr Crabb has responded well to the treatment, but fears he will have to sell his house in Crosslands Drive to keep paying for the drug.

The couple have already cashed in their pensions and friends are organising the charity golf tournament at Hinksey Heights golf course, Oxford, to raise more money.

The tournament will be played on Friday, September 19, and organiser Paul Evans hopes to raise a significant amount to contribute towards Mr Crabb's treatment.

He is also asking friends of Mr Crabb's family to agree to make regular payments, so that Mr Crabb does not have to worry about finding thousands of pounds every six weeks.

Mr Evans said: "Andy's latest appeal has just been turned down, and to make matters worse, the financial plug has been pulled on sunitinib nationwide.

"This basically means that Andy's financial situation is not going to improve.

"We would like to open a bank account where people can deposit funds via standing order. For example, if we could get 100 people donating £20 per month, this would be enough to purchase sunitinib on Andy's behalf. This is only an example, as any sum of money would be greatly appreciated."

Mr Crabb said: "I really appreciate everyone's help.

"I'm feeling much better than I did, so the treatment is clearly working."

In July, hundreds of people attended Abingdon United Football Club's Northcourt Road ground for a fundraiser for Mr Crabb and raised more than £800.

He said after the event that the drug, sunitinib, had given him a new lease of life.

Victims of the postcode lottery in Oxfordshire last month travelled to the London HQ of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to lobby for sunitinib to be made freely available on the NHS.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust has turned down applications for the drug from 20 kidney cancer patients, allowing only Stephen Dallison, 33, to be prescribed the drug after he appealed.

Draft guidance issued by Nice last month said that four kidney cancer drugs should not be prescribed on the NHS because they were too expensive.

The tee-off for the Andy Crabb Open golf tournament will be at 11.48am. Teams of four will pay £140 to compete in the 18-hole competition, followed by a barbecue.

Supporters of the tournament or funding scheme can contact Mr Evans on 01235 203108 or by emailing evans42@ntlworld.com

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