NHS nurse who had to crowdfund for her own cancer treatment is now in remission

An oncology nurse forced to crowdfund a cancer drug denied her by the NHS has said her disease is now in remission.

Laura Harris, 43, sparked outrage across Britain when she was told a medicine she needed wasn’t available from her own employer.

The mum-of-two was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and given just three months to live.

She set up a fundraising page aimed at raising £21,000 for the drug Bevacizumab that could extend her life but was not provided by the NHS on cost grounds.

Thousands of strangers from across the world have now donated a total of nearly £100,000 – enough for almost five blocks of the treatment.

Laura has now taken three cycles of Bevacizumab alongside a new chemo drug and said her latest scan delivered her results she could only dream of.

It showed no evidence of active disease – which she described as a type of remission.

Breaking the news to her followers and supporters on Facebook she wrote: ‘I have some great news to share for all of you who shared or donated to my Go Fund Me so that I could buy chemotherapy for myself.

‘I had a scan while in hospital and there is No Evidence of Active Disease in me anywhere.

‘I’m staying on this life extending treatment as long as possible. Thank you for saving my life.’

Laura said the results were more than she could ever have hoped for.

She added: ‘My cancer deposits have all shrunk down and been rendered inactive by my current treatment regime which I raised money for.

‘This means none of my cancer is active or growing right now. My oncologist said about my recent CT scan results that ‘my lungs look as if they’ve never had cancer in them.’

‘My family and I are understandably over the moon with these results. It shows the world that stage 4 cancer doesn’t have to be an automatic death sentence.’

Laura, mum to Molly, 14, and Noah, 16, and step-mum to Zach, eight, has been battling stage four bowel cancer since last year and given just three months to live.

But she astounded colleagues by returning to her work caring for fellow cancer patients at North District Hospital later that year.

Laura, of Barnstaple, Devon, came to the UK 20 years ago from America before qualifying as an oncology nurse in 2006.

She was denied the drug from her employers after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said in 2010 it would not be funded by the NHS because the benefits ‘did not justify the costs’.

Each block of the treatment costs £21,000 and Laura initially hoped to raise enough for two. But after her story was publicised the donations came flooding in.

Laura, who has now completed three cycles of the treatment, said they were keeping the GoFundMe page open to fund as many of them as possible.

She said: ‘Of course the success of the treatment means I will continue on it as long as it continues to work. Thus we have left our fundraising page open for any who would want to donate towards my future treatment.

‘These results are far beyond any we could have imagined. We were absolutely blown away.

‘Due to the side effects of the chemo I was in hospital fighting an infection at the time they gave me the results. I was actually expecting bad news as I was feeling so unwell. It certainly perked me up to get such amazing results.

‘The response we have had from my community and the world has truly been overwhelming.

‘Never in a million years did we think we would get the support we have been given and continue to receive.

‘My greatest wish, above all my bucket list items, is to reach the masses with my message. You are never too young, be vigilant over your own health and stage 4 cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence.

‘I will keep using my time and energy and access to the press to push forward these messages.’

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