Family of Staffordshire man with rare cancer 'overwhelmed' by support

The sister of a Kinver man who is suffering from a rare and aggressive cancer which started in his eyes and has now spread to his liver has warned people of the importance of having routine eye tests.

Father-of-four Jez Bridges has stage four uveal ocular melanoma, a rare and aggressive eye cancer that affects one in one million people a year in the UK. It was discovered after a routine eye test at Specsavers last year.

In March this year he was told his cancer had become terminal after spreading to his liver. He has been given 12-24 months to live without treatment.

Jez, aged 59, has three siblings and his sister, Justine Owens, and other family members are raising thousands for his private care - costing up to £200,000 - as there are no available further treatment options for him on the NHS.

A GoFundMe campaign which was only launched on Friday (May 29) has already raised nearly £33,000 towards a target of £200,000 and Justine said they have been ‘overwhelmed’ by the support from family, friends and well wishers.

Jez received proton radiotherapy treatment in September last year but with the devastating news of the spreading of the cancer after an MRI scan in March, the family are now trying to prolong his life as long as possible and raise enough money for chemo saturation therapy.

Justine said: “This is a specialised chemotherapy delivered directly to the liver. While it is not a cure, it has shown promising effectiveness in controlling the disease and could give Jez something truly priceless - more time.

“Each round of treatment costs approximately £40,000, with four or five rounds required, making this an enormous financial undertaking, but we have been overwhelmed by the success of the GoFundMe page already and the support it has received.

“We know Jez is going to lose the sight in one eye but that is probably the least of his worries and we are just trying to prolong his life and raise awareness of the condition, which is rare but can be detected.

“In Jez’s case it was detected on a routine eye operation but he paid £20 extra to have the back of the eye looked at and that was what detected a tiny speck which turned out to be cancerous.

“I would encourage everyone to get their eyes tested regularly and get that extra check if possible because it could be the difference between detecting any abnormalities or problems early or not at all.

“We are in touch with the hospital in Southampton and hope to get Jez down there as quick as possible.

“Should other promising treatment options become available for Jez, this fundraising will also help support those but as a family we would like to thank everyone who has contributed or reached out.”