A Bridgwater couple say they have exhausted savings, accessed a pension and put their home on the market to pay for cancer treatment that isn't available on the NHS.
A Somerset grandfather battling recurrent lung cancer says specialist treatment in London has given him hope — but his family has had to make life-changing financial sacrifices to fund it.
Patrick “Joe” Stephens, 69, and his wife Ruth say they've had to make the drastic decisions to afford the proton beam therapy treatment, after being told the NHS could offer only palliative care.
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A military veteran, Joe worked as a rifleman and radio operator in the Somerset Light Infantry in the 1970s before a career working on the railways for many years.
Joe has faced cancer treatment for more than a decade, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and later with lung cancer in 2019.
After further treatment, he said scans in early 2026 showed the cancer had returned.
Couple share "soul-destroying" decision to afford treatment
Joe and Ruth said they were "devastated" when they were told they were not eligible for NHS funding for proton beam therapy.
They sought a second opinion from a private lung oncologist in London, who carried out further investigations and offered the treatment with potentially curative intent.
The couple said they paid about £15,000 for consultations, surgery and other medical costs before facing a £50,000 bill for the proton beam therapy, plus £2,400 for accommodation during Joe’s six-week stay in London.
Ruth said: “I have got a small pension from the company I worked for — most of my pension, to be honest — and that’s been funding us to pay the instalments so far.”
She added: “What’s the point of me having that money in my pension if I’ve got nobody left to share it with?
"I’d much rather spend it on my husband and try and get him well and have nothing than leave that money in my bank and have no husband.”
Joe and Ruth sell their "forever home" to cover costs
Joe said the couple had put their home on the market in an effort to raise the remaining money, but have since had to reduce the asking price.
They plan to move in with their daughter, while their daughter and son-in-law sell their own home so the family can find a property together.
“We ended up having to give the house away to sell it,” Joe said.
“We’ve spent a lifetime paying in our taxes — 40-odd years of taxes and insurances — but when we needed that help, we didn’t get it.
“Now we’re having to forfeit a lifetime of hard work to help give me some years or save my life."
Joe added: "It’s soul-destroying, to be honest. It breaks my heart that I’m having to take my wife’s pension.”
Couple call for rethink on NHS funding decisions
Joe said the treatment had already made a major difference to him: “This treatment has been a life-saver and changer for me.
“It’s really saved my life, and if nothing else it’s given me hope — which is a bit more than I had six weeks ago.”
The NHS says the specialist therapy is funded for certain cancers, including some complex brain, head and neck cancers and sarcomas, but is not suitable for other cancer cases. NHS England did not respond to requests for comment about Joe's case.
NHS England’s policy states proton beam therapy is not routinely commissioned for adults with lung cancer, concluding that available evidence does not show better outcomes than modern photon-based radiotherapy, according to 2021 commissioning policy documents.
Katie Munro, a friend of Ruth’s and the organiser of a GoFundMe appeal, said she had known Ruth through work for years and wanted to help when the family faced mounting costs.
She said: “I hate seeing anybody in that kind of distress.”
The fundraiser has raised just over £3,000, largely through friends and family, according to Katie.
She said it had effectively covered the couple’s London accommodation costs.
Katie added: “It just hit home what he's going through. I just put myself in Ruth's shoes, if I was with somebody who was going through that, I'd want to do everything I could."
Joe said the family wanted their experience to start a wider conversation about access to treatment, and how potentially life-saving NHS funding decisions are made.
“The big point me and my wife would like to take out of this is to highlight to the public that this treatment is available for you,” he said.
“There’s more treatment available in the private health sector — we need that to become a nationwide conversation.”
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