Lutterworth fitness instructor in bid to raise £150,000 for urgent cancer treatment in Germany

A Lutterworth fitness instructor is raising money for urgent cancer treatment in Germany after being told there were no more options on the NHS.

After a year of visiting her GP about shoulder pain and undergoing treatment for a frozen shoulder, 51-year-old Faye Nockles was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive tissue sarcoma called MPNST.

A family friend, who has started a fundraising page in a bid to raise £150,000 for specialist treatment, said: “Faye had been a fitness instructor for around 20 years and absolutely loved her job and was very passionate about it, teaching at many fitness clubs around Leicestershire.

“In in 2019 she was diagnosed with a rare soft tissue sarcoma. Throughout the year she had been visiting her GP on many occasions complaining of pain in her right shoulder. She was told it was most likely a frozen shoulder and had physio sessions, tried acupuncture and also had a Cortisone injection to hopefully relieve the pain but none of this helped.

“Unable to sleep with the pain and as it was affecting her job, she was eventually sent for an X-ray which showed an image needing more investigation. After waiting several weeks after she had an MRI scan and found out she had a 6cm high grade aggressive tumour growing on one of the shoulder’s nerve sheaths - called a MPNST.”

The tumour was removed the following month at a specialist hospital in London, before Faye underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, causing her to lose her hair.

After treatment she returned to work as a fitness instructor at Lutterworth Leisure Centre, despite suffering chronic pain and having restricted movement in her arm.

But Faye was left devastated when a routine X-ray and scan this January showed the cancer had returned and metastasised into her lungs.

Faye said: “More gruelling rounds of chemo failed to have much effect. It had become chemo-resistant as is common with this rare type of cancer. There are no more treatment options left on the NHS.”

The only chance of extended survival for Faye comes from immunotherapy treatments at a specialist clinic in Germany, which leads research in the field.

It includes a treatment to prepare the immune system to produce cancer-killing cells, and a cancer vaccine which improves the chances of destroying cancer cells without harming normal cells.

Faye has already started treatment in Germany, using her and partner Chris’s life savings to fund it.

Doctors say she will need several more rounds of specialist treatment to give her the biggest chance of prolonged survival with a good quality of life.

The family is now trying to raise the £150,000 needed so Faye can continue treatment.

A family spokeswoman said: “She and her partner have already spent most of their life savings on the initial rounds of immunotherapy treatment, which is engineered in the lab using the patient’s own blood tumour antigens, so it is very expensive and can only be done in a few labs in Europe.

“It is imperative we try to raise more funds to cover imminent ongoing cycles of this advanced treatment not yet available in the UK.

“Please donate whatever you can to help with funding this life saving treatment.”

Click here to donate.