The family of a young man diagnosed with rare cancer and paralysed just weeks before joining the army are trying to raise150K to help him get treatment.
Martin Harry was on the verge of entering the military when he first felt unusual back pain in March 2020.
Just three weeks later Martin, 25, of Swindon, Wilts., was paralysed from the waist down.
He has been told there is only a 40 percent chance of merely reducing his Grade four Glioblastoma Multiforme, which is inoperable after spreading throughout his spine.
Pals are now hoping to raise £150,000 to fund private consultations, clinic visits, experimental treatments, and travel costs.
His current round of chemotherapy is his last available option on the NHS.
His fiancé Sinéad Nolan said: “Harry had been accepted into army to train to become an aircraft engineer.
“He was preparing himself for training – every day spent going to gym, running – he was really physically fit.
“There was nothing else he wanted to do.
“He was so ready to start – it was just gut wrenching when we realised he wasn’t going to be able to join.”
Harry’s back pain was first suspected to be a herniated disc and he was given strong anti-inflammatories.
But over the week that followed he began to lose sensation in his feet which rapidly spread up his right leg.
An urgent MRI revealed that his pain was being caused by a 4.5cm tumour in his spine.
He was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital for seven-hour spinal surgery but as the tumour had grown, he was paralysed from the waist down.
He said: “He said: “I’ve been told that the chemotherapy I’m on is the last available option under the NHS, and there’s not too much chance of it actually working really well.
“I’ve got a scan in a couple months’ time, and that’s when I’ll find out if the treatment is working.
“There are other options, but they are not available through the NHS and that’s why we need to raise money because it’s going to be very expensive.
“If this chemotherapy doesn’t have any effect, then I do have a matter of months left.”
Harry hopes to raise enough money to pay for special treatment in Germany – whereby a vaccine Is created based on a sample of the tumour taken previously.
The treatment could be vital but comes with hefty costs.
Sinéad, 24, said: “They do a really comprehensive analysis in their private labs in Germany, then they develop a vaccine based on that analyses.
“The analysis on its own is 10 thousand euros, to develop vaccine is 50 thousand euros and each time you have it administered, every 6-8 weeks, its 20 thousand euros.
“It’s so urgent I can’t even tell you. The goal is to reach 75 thousand of the target by the end of next month.”
An online fundraiser has been set up by Harry’s fiancée and childhood sweetheart Sinéad, a Software Developer, along with friends and family – which in just over a few weeks has raised £44,000 of their £150,000 target.
Harry has been with Sinéad for nine years, getting engaged on December 11, 2020.
Sinéad said: “I know that we probably could arrange to get married now but it would just be with our parents. We both have siblings and I also have a stepdad – it wouldn’t feel right.
“I have to say the last week or so has been really really tough, Harry’s pain has been a lot worse.
“His back pain was starting to get worse again, but in last week it was at an unbearable point and for last week he’s been pretty much bed bound.
“For me, it’s really highlighted this is really urgent.
“I just wish we’d had all this information a few months ago. We done have any time to waste.”
Sinéad’s GoFundMe ends with: “Please give what you can so that we can continue to try to keep this extraordinary man in our lives.”
To donate, visit: