Weston-s-Mare: Cancer Dad's Battle

27 May 2014, 05:00 | Updated: 9 June 2014, 19:22

A mum from Weston-super-Mare is starting a £5,000 appeal to get her husband pioneering cancer treatment in Europe, after he was given a few months to live.

Since last spring, Laura Board's husband Chris has been battling a rare, aggressive cancer which has seen him receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, undergo heart and brain surgery, suffer from seizures, and come out of a coma.

She says the germ cell tumour derives from testicular cancer. Only three or four people in the south west are told they have it every year.

Now, doctors unable to do much more, have diagnosed 28-year-old Chris as terminal, and given him 10 weeks of palliative chemotherapy.

But Laura, a mum of three, tells Heart she wants a second opinion in Europe, where her husband could take part in drug trials and other treatments:

"The palliative chemo seems to be holding things down for a bit, but he can have more in France. There are clinical trials that they're currently doing in Germany, which they're just not doing here, so I think we need to try another option to keep our family together for as long as we can.''

Laura says she has contacted the world's second leading cancer hospital in Paris, where some treatments are not yet available in Britain.

Should that not work, she says Chris's consultant is also compiling a report to send to Germany and Italy - and she is even considering travelling to the USA.

The £5,000 being raised will help pay for ongoing care in whichever country's health care system agrees to treat him. Any remaining cash from the fundraising will start a new charity to help other families in a similar situation.

Laura tells Heart she will not give up on helping the love of her life, whom she met at age 15, has three boys with, and whom she married in the town's Grove Park in 2011:

"I don't want want to not try. He's too important to let go. We've got young children. He deserves to see the majority of their childhood."

"Chris's motto is 'Go hard or go home' and we won't go home.''

The Boards are also organising a fundraising family fun day at the Hornets' RFC on July 5 in Weston-super-Mare at 12.30pm, where an auction also is taking place.