A man with weeks to live has been granted his final wish and will be flown to Glastonbury Festival by helicopter thanks to his heartbroken friends.
Music mad Nigel Stonehouse, 58, from Hartlepool, County Durham, was diagnosed with cancer last month.
But the disease quickly spread to his lungs, with doctors telling the former bricklayer he was unlikely to make it until the end of the summer, SomersetLive report.
He was desperate to go to the iconic festival one more time but faced devastation after being told he was too unwell to travel.
Nigel has been a regular at Glasto for 35 years but, thanks to his friends, he will fly to the event by helicopter with a medical team at his side.
It wasn't cheap, but his GoFundMe page went viral and raised almost £19,000 thanks to his pals' pushing on social media.
Now Nigel has said he'll be "forever grateful" as it was confirmed he can attend the site safely and residents of Glastonbury town have offered up their home for him to stay in with friends.
Hospital staff are organising the logistics to ensure he can attend the festival safely despite his terminal kidney cancer.
Nigel is being cared for on a respiratory ward at the University Hospital of North Tees, where palliative care nurses Emma Graydon and Robyn Willis are organising his journey to Worthy Farm in Somerset.
“It has to be said, I wouldn’t be going anywhere if wasn’t for these nurses,” he said.
“They’ve been absolutely marvellous. I’ve been privileged to be a fly-on-the wall and see the tribulations they go through, like on a night shift. They’re wonderful people – they really are.”
Mr Stonehouse has been attending Glastonbury since 1986 and this year’s festival will be his 19th in total. “They’ve all been good, all the way through… they’ve all been special and different and I’ve been privileged enough to see that change,” Mr Stonehouse added.
“It’s always important to go to Glastonbury – we’re a family.” Asked which act he is most looking forward to this year, Mr Stonehouse said: “Diana Ross! She’s a legend.”
The GoFundMe set up for Mr Stonehouse, entitled Get Nige To Glasto, reached its initial goal of £12,000 just over 24 hours after it was shared by the DJ Fatboy Slim on Twitter.
The fundraising page read: "Nige was diagnosed with cancer of his kidney in mid-May; it had unfortunately already spread to his lungs.
"In the last week, Nige has taken a sudden turn and has been told that not only is his cancer incurable, but it is progressing fast and is aggressive. He has been told he likely has a matter of weeks left.
"Nige was planning to be with us all at Glastonbury next week, and he has made it his dying wish to make it there, even if only for a few hours for one last time.
"He is currently an inpatient at North Tees hospital, and their wonderful palliative care team have assured him that they will do all they can to make this happen. Within hours they had contacted site managers at the festival who advised that they would facilitate in ways that they can.
"Unfortunately there is no space left in the accessible areas (Nige has a general sale ticket) but they will facilitate entry via the accessible car park.
"Now to the hard part! Getting Nige all the way there…..
"This is obviously a HUGE undertaking, and will be costly. The palliative care team suggested commissioning a helicopter to get him there and back - the first quote we have had is for £12k.
"We are asking that anyone who is able, makes a donation no matter how small to try and help us make this happen.
"We realise logistically this will be huge, and that we have very little time, but we want to move heaven and earth to get him there. It would mean the world to Nige and to all who love him."
To visit the fundraising page click here.
