Help us fight Stu's cancer

Thank you for taking the time to hear Stu’s story.

My dad and all round bloody good bloke, Stu, has been diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer that threatens to take him from his family far too soon. After appearing in his neck several years ago, and despite several rounds of radiotherapy and extensive surgeries, it has now spread to his lungs. Stu, who is only in his 50s, now needs an expensive immunotherapy drug called Keytruda to extend his life, but unfortunately the drug is not funded for his type on cancer in New Zealand.

Pharmac had planned to start working with drug companies to potentially fund Keytruda for more cancer patients earlier this year, but that plan has now been put on hold due to budget constraints driven by COVID-19. It is heartbreaking that hope was on the horizon for dad and so many others who could be helped by Keytruda and it feels so cruel to have that snatched away.

My dad is now faced with having to come up with at least $60,000 in the next few weeks to extend his life. We are heartbroken and don’t take asking for help lightly, but we have run out of options to keep dad here with us. It is his last hope.

Stu has spent his life helping people. He was a volunteer firefighter in the Waikato, and also served in multiple search and rescue operations across NZ to save the lives of people lost in the bush. He also served in the New Zealand Police in Thames and Auckland. Stu is a loving dad to three kids, Morgan, Emma, and Chris. He became a first-time grandad to baby Charlie just two months ago and would give anything to spend a little more time with him. In more than 50 years of work and volunteering, Dad has never asked for help from anyone, but now he’s fighting for his life. Any support to help us keep Dad here with us a little longer means the world to us. Thank you.