A TERMINALLY-ILL man who last year spent £70,000 of his own money to prolong his life has won his battle to get treatment free on the NHS. Liverpool businessman Keith Ditchfield travelled across Europe to find a treatment, and discovered a drug that slowed down the onslaught of his aggressive renal cancer. The 53-year-old’s bid to get Nexavar on the NHS was rejected and he spent £3,000 a month buying the drug himself, but yesterday he revealed the state has agreed to foot the bill. Mr Ditchfield, from Fazakerley, said last night: “I spent my life savings to save my life. “But I couldn’t have continued to pay for it myself and I felt let down when I couldn’t get it through the NHS. “I felt cheated. I think it’s terrible that you have to pay to save your own life after you have paid National Insurance your whole life.” Diagnosed with cancer nearly two years ago, Mr Ditchfield found out about the drug when he was in Germany paying to have cybernife surgery, which is focused radiotherapy treatment. Now living in Stonyhurst, Lancashire, Mr Ditchfield, whose family still live in Fazakerley and Aughton, in Ormskirk, has paid for himself to have the treatment twice. He said: “The worst thing is being told you have cancer. But after that, you come to terms with what might happen. “So when doctors told me there was nothing they could do for me, I didn’t believe them. I knew there were treatments out there. “I did some research on the internet and found out about treatment I could get in Germany. “It was while I was there that I was told about this drug, which is licensed in Europe but costs £3,000 in Germany and £3,600 here. “When I returned, I applied to get it on the NHS but I got turned down in November, so I bought it myself and it worked.” Mr Ditchfield, the director of DCL Interiors Ltd, in Clitheroe, who is married and an avid Liverpool FC fan, says since taking Nexavar in September, he has suffered no tumours. And a recent scan showed he was progression-free. He said: “The cancer will progress eventually, but for now I feel fit and healthy and I have got a good quality of life. “It’s 18 months since I was diagnosed and, without the treatment I have had abroad, I would have only had six months.” Mr Ditchfield’s appeal against East Lancashire Primary Care Trust was heard on Thursday, and on Friday morning, the decision was faxed through to his office. He said: “I was speechless. It was such a relief. “I hope this means that it will be available for other people with the same condition. Not everybody is able to pay for it themselves as I have.” | 
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