A County Durham widow was forced to declare herself bankrupt a month after her husband died of pancreatic cancer aged 64.
Audrey Buckham told Mirror her story after a Marie Curie survey revealed that thousands of terminally ill people and their families are living in poverty. Some are terrified to heat their homes, while carers have found patients lying in distress curled under blankets for hours in damp homes.
The study found that 89% of staff have patients with cash woes, with 83% saying those in care could not afford energy bills. And 56% were very concerned for those with a terminal illness.
