Gravesend dad Mark Towens whose work was praised by Prince William hopes Covid-19 travel restrictions will not stop potentially life-saving TIL cancer treatment
06:00, 07 August 2020
A father who needs life-saving cancer treatment abroad says he hopes Covid-19 travel restrictions will not prevent his surgery taking place after raising his £100,000 target.
Mark Towens, from Gravesend, whose work developing a drowning prevention plan for the River Thames was praised by Prince William, now faces an anxious wait to find out.
The 39-year-old says the response to help him raise the money in just four weeks because treatment is not available on the NHS in the UK has been incredible.
"My family and I have been absolutely amazed by the generosity of so many people who have supported me in this fundraising," Mark told KentOnline.
"The support from the community on the Thames has been incredible either through donations, raising awareness or offering prizes for a number of raffles.
"My cousin ran 100 miles in four days across the South Downs, my children’s school organised events to raise money and many others have undertaken their own fundraising to support me.
"It has been a very emotional and positive experience for me and all those close to me."
Mark, who works as a harbour master for the Port of London Authority managing river traffic through central London, chaired a group which worked on a water safety strategy for the Thames and was supported by the Duke of Cambridge when it launched last May.
Most of his colleagues and friends had no idea about his battles with skin cancer which flared up four years ago after a 12-year spell in remission.
Mark added: "I haven’t heard from the Palace, but last year Prince William came to support a project I had been leading to reduce drownings in the Thames.
"He was very generous with his time and supportive of both the work we had undertaken, particularly around mental health issues, as well as support for first responders and the impact dealing with these issues can have on them."
Now the funding has been raised, Mark is due to have scans this month to make sure he is fit to travel and the cancer is stable enough so that his treatment can take place.
"I have been talking with hospitals in the USA, Israel and in Europe and we have a number of options that we can take forward, but it all depends on the outcome in August before we can make any firm commitments," he said.
"Ensuring the cancer has stabilised is the main issue to overcome in the short term, but beyond that the various travel restrictions with Covid-19 have the potential to cause issues gaining treatment abroad."
Mark said earlier this month he would not give up fighting so he could look his children in the eyes and say he had done everything he could.
The course of treatment Mark needs, tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), is not carried out in the UK but he had been accepted for a clinical trial in Manchester before the cancer had spread to the brain meaning he was no longer eligible.
His last hope is for having TIL treatment in either Israel or the USA.
It involves harvesting cells which are beating the cancer, growing billions of them artificially and with drugs boosting their effectiveness, and having them injected back into the body to fight the cancer cells.
Mark said: "With Israel the hospital is state owned so they can organise visas to travel into the country.
"The USA is more challenging as each state has its own restrictions which is why we are talking with hospitals in a number of states so there are options depending on the situation at the time we are looking to travel.
"This is certainly something I am concerned about but I am trying to put plans in place to overcome this if possible."
Mark says while the treatment is intensive and will be hard to cope with, he says the TIL treatment is his "best chance to beat this disease".
A show of support was put on by tugs on the River Thames off Gravesend by the Port of London Authority and the RNLI after Mark raised the £100,000 target.
He added: "To see this type of support is very touching and provides such a positive boost to me during this difficult time. I can’t thank everyone enough for all of the support we have been shown during this difficult time."
