Drug victory for mother of three suffering from terminal breast cancer

Trudy Cusworth was faced with having to raise 20,000 to obtain the drug Avastin, which her specialist said could allow her to see her children grow up but now she has been told that the NHS will pay for a course of treatment.

She has been told the disease has spread and is inoperable but the drug might help prolong her life.

A panel of doctors at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had told her she did not need the Avastin – even though her own oncologist from the same trust said she would benefit.

Mrs Cusworth's only hopes were a new national drugs fund or raising the 20,000 needed herself.

Now Mrs Cusworth, 40, who lives near Selby, a mother-of-three boys, has been told that the application to the fund has been successful. The fund will pay for an initial course of Avastin and the NHS will pay for her next course of chemotherapy. She said: "I am so delighted."

Donations have been made, including an anonymous gift of 5,000. She says she has been touched by the generosity of people.

Mrs Cusworth has now put her fundraising on hold but any money already collected will be saved in case it is needed in the future.

People can find out more via her website which can be found at www.trudycusworth.com