A man has spent £120,000 on treatment after NHS doctors said he had less than a year to live.
When Craig Shore’s vision suddenly went blurry, he put it down to getting older.
But a trip to the optician revealed that this was in fact a symptom of a rare form of cancer.
The tumour – which was the size of a single grain of rice – was pressing against the back of Craig’s left eye and had spread to his liver.
To make matters worse, the therapy he required was not yet available on the NHS.
“[When I was given my diagnosis], it felt like my whole world shattered around me,” the engineer, from Derbyshire, told Need To Know.
“I pushed the consultant to tell me the worst-case scenario of my condition.
“I didn’t expect them to say I’d have less than a year left on Earth.
“When I had to tell my wife the news, she burst out crying and kept saying: ‘I can’t lose you’.
“Her words cut deep like a knife and they made me face the reality of what was going on.
“It was a matter of life or death.
“If I didn’t pay to get the treatment I needed to survive, the tumour would continue to ravage my body until there was nothing left.”
Ocular uveal melanoma affects only 600 people in the UK each year according to the NHS.
The 53-year-old was referred to four different hospitals before getting an official cancer diagnosis.
Initially, Craig was treated with proton beam treatment but tests showed his cancer had spread.
As doctors were unable to take a biopsy from the rice-sized tumour, this meant Craig was unable to enter a clinical trial.
He was offered immunotherapy – but this would only extend his life expectancy.
Craig and his wife, Michelle, 52, took matters into their own hands and came across chemo saturation.
The non-surgical treatment uses x-ray guidance and chemotherapy to deliver this directly to the liver while the blood supply to the organ is sealed off to prevent any other spread.
Currently, it’s not offered on the NHS as there’s not enough evidence to demonstrate its effectiveness.
It costs £40,000 per session, with Craig needing at least £120,000 worth.
He said: “Obviously we were in a total state of shock.
“I couldn’t believe there were no other options.
“But there’s no price to put on my life and seeing my kids, as well as grandkids, grow up.
“I knew we’d make it work.
“We cashed in our life cover on the mortgage, but it wasn’t enough.
“So we started fundraising.”
Craig set up a GoFundMe page, which has currently raised £63,200 out of £80,000 so far.
In January 2025, he was told that treatment had worked and that the cancer had almost disappeared.
He hopes to share his battle to not only raise awareness, but to prove that chemo saturation does work – with the aim his case will allow it to be made available on the NHS.
Craig added: “The treatment itself has worked great for me.
“I’ve had no side effects whatsoever.
“I’m actually able to enjoy life again.
“For now, I’m stable.
“I’m feeling fit and well and all I need to do now is monitor the disease.
“I want to prove that this does work and hopefully it’ll be funded in the future.
“It’s saved my life; and it’ll save so many others, too.”
