Dave Whitford: Sheffield bus driver hopes new brain tumour treatment in America could save his life

Dave Whitford, aged 49, from Parson Cross, needs to raise £100,000 for the procedure in Texas, which he hopes would remove the tumour completely, after being told he has just months to live.

He believes it is his only hope of survival after medics in the UK removed part of the mass, but were unable to take it all out because of its location in his brain.

Dave, a former bus driver, said: “A lot of people have recommended this surgery because it's totally different from what they do over here.

“With what treatment they do in the UK, it means that my tumour won't go permanently because they can't remove it all.

“But the treatment in America completely destroys it. It has been recommended a lot and it does look like an amazing hospital when you read up about it.”

Dave was left devastated when he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer and found out he only had around a year to 18 months left to live.

He first went to A&E in May 2019 as he was unable to balance but was told by doctors he had an inner ear infection that was caused by a tiny insect bite.

But as he still unable to balance and constantly felt sick, doctors performed a scan on his head which revealed he had a small brain mass which was monitored for two years.

Doctors noticed the mass had started to grow so made the decision to remove it in December 2021 and discovered it was actually an incurable brain tumour.

Dave had to give up his job as a bus driver when he was diagnosed with the tumour so decided to set up a Go Fund Me page to help support him and his family financially.

But after he received advice from hundreds of people online, including some who have experienced the same type of cancer, he decided to research alternative treatment.

He added: “If it totally gets removed, then it will just be perfect for me. I will just be very happy as long as it doesn't grow back again.

“But I've seen a story about a five year old boy who had a brain tumour and he had the surgery in America. He's now in his twenties and he's totally okay.”

He will have to fly over to the Burzynski Clinic to find out exactly what treatment he will be having, as they customise the treatment depending on what the patient needs. But the dad-of-one has said that he will go through whatever treatment he needs to, as he 'just wants to survive.'

He added: "I just want to survive. My daughter is 18 and I haven't even told her that it's grade four. She knows that the tumour has not been fully removed and that I've had different treatments and other various things but I haven't told her how severe it is.

“I'll just have to tell her that I'm planning on going over there to blast it away.”

Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/grade-4-brain-tumour-trying-to-live-on to donate.