A grieving daughter is battling to ensure families don’t have to go through the battles she fought for her dad who died of pancreatic cancer in June.
His death aged 61 came just a few weeks after diagnosis in April and followed a battle by his family for the palliative care he needed.
Wayne Delahoy competed in an iron man marathon and was biking in the weeks before his death. A former player for Holbeach United Football Club, he took himself to A&E at Peterborough City Hospital after his GP failed to refer him.
His daughter Imogen Varnham, of Long Sutton, is fighting to ensure others don’t face the nightmare she was confronted with in terms of her dad’s treatment.
“The system needs a massive reform, I’m hearing the same story from others and there has to be change. We had to battle for basic care and it can’t carry on like this. For every positive experience, I’m hearing 30 bad ones like mine,” she said.
With a family history of pancreatic cancer, symptoms including bloating and after four trips to his GP, he ended-up having a private CT scan.
Mr Delahoy was diagnosed with stage four cancer and ‘sent home with a box of paracetamol’ and told to wait for a letter from oncology – which arrived weeks after his death.
“This isn’t just about my dad. It could be yours, or your brother or son – it could be you and we need things to change so when someone is diagnosed with cancer they have the tests they need, all of them, within the first 14 days. Dad was still waiting for his biopsy when he died. It was a 16-week wait,” she said.
Mrs Varnham has 1,667 names on her petition to the government, but needs at least 100,000 to have it put before parliament.
“There is no care contract in the county for between 8pm and 8am, overnight. So you have to phone and hope there’s a Marie Curie nurse free, or someone to help with a night sit. The basic care just isn’t there and it’s worse than it was 20 years ago when my grandmother died,” she added.
“It’s not just about my dad, it’s something anyone could face and the situation can be completely daunting.”
Sign her petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/743042
