Kind-hearted friends of a dad of two who was diagnosed with bowel cancer have raised more than £10,000 to support him after he had life-saving surgery on Thursday.
Mathew Broadley Dixon was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October aged 44. His wife Claire says the disease is advanced and he has already endured a tough chemotherapy regime for three months.
In a Go Fund Me plea she said: "He has now been given a lifeline in the form of major surgery at a specialist hospital in London 200-plus miles away from his home in Leeds. This could extend his life and may even offer a cure.
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"Mathew is a freelance technical writer and will need to stop working for a while. He doesn't receive any benefits (he has applied for PIP, but there is a six month backlog with no guarantee he will get it). We're reluctantly asking for help to cover our essential bills while he recovers from the op. We'd also like to make sure his children can travel to visit him in hospital.
"If we exceed our target of £15,000, any extra funds will be used to make him comfortable during recovery, and potentially cover the cost of non-NHS treatments like Avastin if his oncologist needs options down the line. (Avastin can cost up to £3,000 per month.)
"Many thanks to everyone who has been a huge support to us: Mathew's friends, our parents, Claire's work colleagues, and the staff at our children's school and nursery. We could not do this without you."
Claire told Leeds Live: "We have done really well with the fundraising. Mathew has a lot of friends in the music scene in Leeds. He had the surgery on Thursday and is in intensive care. His recovery will be a long road ahead.
"Initially he was just tired all the time and he was put on Iron tablets as this kind of illness is not something you associate generally with younger people." Anyone who wishes to donate can do so by clicking here.
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