Truck convoy raises £2,500 towards cancer sufferer Polly Haydock’s £400k treatment in Germany

Truck convoy

A convoy of 95 trucks, organised by Littleborough man Graham Poole, has raised £2,500 towards terminal cancer sufferer Polly Haydock’s potentially life-saving treatment in Germany.

The trucks travelled from Lymm Truckstop to the Bolton Wanderers’ Macron Stadium in Horwich on Saturday (4 March).

Mr Poole saw Polly’s appeal on television before Christmas and wanted to try and help out. He set about organising the convoy using social media.

Polly, from Atherton, who suffers from stage four terminal cancer, was initially diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer on 21 October 2015. She is currently undertaking targeted treatment in Germany, costing around £410,000.

Mr Poole, who owns Rochdale haulage firm Graham Poole Road Transport, said: “I lost my niece, Kelly Hancock, to cancer in 2013 and she was the same age as Polly, just 37, so this is very close to my heart. I just wanted to do something to try and help.

“We were both absolutely overwhelmed by the number of trucks and drivers that took part, it really was an amazing sight.”

Following her diagnosis, Polly began to take natural herbs and supplements and adopted a ‘special diet’. After five months, the tumour had neither grown nor shrunk.

However, four weeks after the mother-of-three completed radiation therapy, a scan revealed the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, liver and lungs. She was then classed as terminal and given six months to live in July 2016.

In October 2016, another scan showed the cancer was also present in her hip bone. She said all the NHS could offer was chemotherapy.

Polly said: “Apart from the pain, I feel and look relatively normal and know that the prognosis is wrong. I will not accept the death sentence that I have been given.

“So after lots more research, and with the help of my husband and some very special friends, I found a clinic in Germany that give a better chance of survival using more targeted treatments.”

Polly began her second cycle of Irinotecan this week, two weeks after her first.

In an update from three weeks ago, she said: “My tumour marker is now that of a normal person and is down to four. Three months ago, it was 42, so this means the possibility of the cancer floating around my system right now is very, very little.”

To donate towards Polly’s treatment, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/my-children-need-their-mummy-2u9pnzg4