Fundraiser launched to help 'selfless' Banbury man with rare condition obtain life-saving medication

Joseph Allsop, who has recently got engaged, has Von Hippel-Lindau Disease, a rare genetic multi-system disorder in which tumours grow in certain parts of the body, causing serious danger if they press against other parts of the body or rupture.

The condition has affected Joseph’s vision, causing him to be blind in one eye and rapidly losing sight in the other, as well as resulting in him developing kidney cancer.

A medicine named Welireg has been developed to treat the disease and has around an 80 per cent success rate in curing or stabilising patients; however, the treatment is only available in the USA and Canada.

Joseph said: “I have been told by my specialists that this medication is my only hope of a quality of life and a future. A specialised oncologist is willing to give me a private prescription and help me obtain this medication, but sadly, at a cost of £12,000 per month to a pharmacy to receive it.

"So I am pleading and begging everyone to try and help raise £38,000, which is enough for a three-month supply, including any fees incurred, to find out if I am one of the 80 per cent whose lives could be saved with this medication, after which my specialists hope that the results will be enough to warrant compassionate funding from elsewhere.”

A close friend of Joseph's, Jess Duncan, has started a campaign to raise the £38,000 needed to access the potentially life-saving treatment and has printed 1000 posters about Joseph’s fundraiser, which she will hand out around town.

Jess said: "Joseph is the kindest and nicest person anyone could ever meet. He has had no luck in life and is trying every day to have a bit of happiness, and I just wish I could do more. He is the most selfless person on this planet.

"Joseph actually spent all his money to buy his mum's council house for her, so she won't be left with nothing in case he does pass. So now he hasn't got a penny to his name and won't be able to pay for this treatment.”

For more information or to donate, click here: www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-me-cure-my-cnacer