A Tayside mother who has faced lengthy journeys for her son’s life-saving cancer treatment has backed calls for more help with travel costs.
Amanda Barnes’ 11-year-old son Sean was just five when he was diagnosed with cancer.
The pair faced an 80-mile round trip to hospital in Edinburgh following the shock diagnosis.
New research by CLIC Sargent has revealed parents of young cancer patients struggle to pay for general expenses such as heating their homes due to the cost of taking their children for treatment.
The research highlighted an estimated one in three families struggle to pay their rent or mortgage.
The charity said some are even threatened with eviction as they are left to choose between travelling to hospital and day-to-day essentials.
Amanda is backing calls from CLIC Sargent for the next UK Prime Minister to commit to a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund.
She said: “Travel was getting really expensive and difficult. I don’t drive so we relied on Sean’s dad and public transport. The costs were adding up.
“We had to travel to Edinburgh for chemotherapy and then to Dundee any time Sean’s temperature spiked, sometimes in the middle of the night.
“We even got in trouble for using public transport from the doctors. They said we should be using taxis as there would be less chance of picking anything up but it was so expensive.
“The bus could be awful though – Sean had his nose tube in and was so thin in his stroller, so people would stare.
“There was once a woman who even came up and asked me ‘is it contagious?’. I didn’t know what to say.”
Sean underwent five months of intensive chemotherapy before receiving the all-clear in July 2014.
He had originally been diagnosed with constipation but a persistent GP pushed for a hospital appointment and an x-ray and ultrasound confirmed cancer. He was rushed to Edinburgh within the hour.
He continued having regular check-ups and was given his five year all-clear in August this year.
His family is determined to help others struggling with similar difficulties.
Amanda said: “Travel for treatment for us was very costly. If it hadn’t been for CLIC Sargent helping us out we would have been totally stuck.
“It’s hard enough going through your child having cancer, you don’t need more stress on top.”
