'This really is my last chance of surviving cancer hell'

A FATHER-of-six with only months to live has embarked on a desperate fundraising drive for controversial treatment he hopes could save his life.

Robert Fyvie, 59, is suffering from cancer and has been told there is nothing more NHS surgeons can do for him.

As a result, he and his 39-year-old wife Angie have invested their hope in an Italian doctor with radical views on treating cancer.

He has agreed to treat Mr Fyvie, from Musselburgh, but they must come up with 10,000 by 21 March to make the procedure happen.

Mr Fyvie, who owned a transport business, said: "This really is my last chance. If I can get the money together, I am 100 per cent confident that this can work."

The procedure – which sees cancer "as a fungus" – is overseen by oncologist Dr Tullio Simoncini, who intends to insert a catheter straight into his liver in an intricate operation which cannot and will not be performed in the UK.

Dr Simoncini's other methods include treating cancer with baking soda and while he is yet to be backed up by firm clinical testing, his approach is gathering momentum across Europe and America.

For Mr Fyvie, it is his last chance of beating the cancer which began in his bowel in 2006, and has put him through harrowing operations and years of pain.

"Come 21 March I'll just have to head out there and see what can happen," he said. "I've always refused chemotherapy because it just kills your immune system. I think if I'd gone through it I'd maybe even be dead by now.

"I've been really touched so far by people's generosity, even my children have emptied their piggy banks for me.

"But I know he can help me, I'm completely convinced of that. They've given me six to eight months to live, so time is of the essence."

He has the full backing of his children, one of whom ran a sponsored ten miles on Friday to add to the 1,200 they have already collected.

Mrs Fyvie, who found Dr Simoncini after endless internet searching for a solution, said: "I just pray that we can get the money together and do this.

"It is a really difficult time to be asking people and businesses for money, but it really is our only hope.

"He can see us in Rome for a time after 21 March which is why we've got such little time to get everything together."

Medical sources said while there was a limited evidence base for Dr Simoncini's theories, "medical history shows us radical approaches can one day become routine".

Simon Mackenzie, NHS Lothian's associate medical director, said: "Mr Fyvie has not approached us about this particular treatment, but we are working with him to tailor a care plan to meet his needs."