'The NHS is cutting back on life': Thamesmead mum 'refused bone marrow transplant'

Sasha Williams, 33, was diagnosed in March 2015 and had four rounds of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant.

But the transplant wasn’t a proper match and she found out in August that she had relapsed.

She told News Shopper: “I was told that on the NHS, second bone marrow transplants are no longer available.

“I can’t believe they’re cutting back on life.

“I’m doing chemo and they have offered me a clinical trial after that is finished.

“But of the five people I know who have tried it, four are dead – it’s risky.”

Mrs Williams has been told she has a 20 per cent chance of surviving the next 24 months, and believes the only thing that would save her life is a second transplant.

Sasha wants to get back to being the "warrior woman" she used to be for her two young children

But in July of this year, NHS England announced that it would not routinely fund second stem cell transplants for patients with blood cancer or blood disorders who have relapsed.

As with IVF, patients are guaranteed one bone marrow transplant on the NHS but it is at the discretion of the NHS as to whether they are eligible for a second one.

In Mrs Williams’ case, it is Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who are responsible for making the decision – and she says they have told her no.

She is currently undergoing chemotherapy at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and has set up a gofundme page to raise £250k for treatment.

Nail artist Mrs Williams is looking into going abroad for treatment, but worries that she won’t be able to get the right follow-up treatment when she returns.

So she is still hoping the NHS might repeal its decision – and is considering going to court to fight for her health.

She said: “As much as it is failing me at the moment, the NHS is the best health service in the world – I don’t want to have to go abroad to have treatment and then come back for aftercare.

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“A bone marrow transplant is probably one of the most toxic things you can do to your body and you’re a lucky sod if you make it through.

“I want the NHS to decide that my life and my two children are worth fighting for.

“If I need to go to court, I will.

“It is quite a gruelling task, but I want to make sure no one has to go through this again.”

Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan submitted a petition with 18,000 signatures to health secretary Jeremy Hunt in July of this year asking for the cutbacks to be reversed.

More than 30 transplant experts signed the letter, which read: “With another transplant, there is hope.

“Evidence suggests there is a one in three chance they will achieve the milestone of five-year survival.”

"A bone marrow transplant is probably one of the most toxic things you can do to your body and you’re a lucky sod if you make it through."

Mrs Williams, who describes herself as a “warrior woman”, is desperate to be around to see her 12-year-old daughter Katia and 7-year-old son LJ grow up.

She said: “I’m so weak. This form of cancer is very, very aggressive.

“It is harsh on the immune system.

“I’m a shadow of the woman I once was but I will fight to get back to where I need to be.

“I don’t think it’s right that the NHS tells me when my time is – they are not my creators, why should they choose?”

Greenwich CCG, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, King’s College Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital were all contacted for comment.

To donate to the fundraising page, click here.

To find out more about the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity, click here.