A loving son is raising money to fulfil his father's wish after he was diagnosed with serious illness. Neil Saunders, 62, was told he was living with bowel cancer last year and despite six months of chemotherapy, doctors informed Neil that he now has stage four cancer.
Neil, who 'has driven the length and breadth of Nottinghamshire' as a bus driver for 41 years is now back undergoing rounds of Immunotherapy, which his son, also named Neil, says could help to prolong his life. Neil Snr raised his family in Hucknall and has long been a fan of aeroplanes, and as a former member of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight he has always had an affinity with Spitfires.
While scrolling through Facebook last week, Neil Jnr discovered that sadly Carolyn Grace, Britain's only Spitfire pilot, had passed away in December 2022.
Carolyn Grace ran a company called AirLeasing LTD, which allows members of the public to go for a ride in a Spitfire. Now, Neil Jnr has started a gofundmepage to try and raise money to help his dad go along for a ride.
He says when he told his dad about the plan "he cried." He has since spoken about his father's battle with cancer and his desire to fulfil his wish of riding in a Spitfire.
Neil Jnr, who also works as a bus driver, said: "He's had the cancer for just over a year. I think it was last Thursday of the Thursday before he had more scans done.
"And they told him it had spread through his lymph nodes. So the diagnosis is that it is now inoperable.
"But they've been trying different sorts of chemo. He's had six months of chemo already and it was deemed not successful.
"So they've had to try different routes for him and come up with this one now. This one is being done to prolong his life.
"It's not been classed as terminal yet, but I think stage four is along that line. It's all about prolonging his life now and getting the most out of it.
"Hence why I've started the gofundmepage. He's always been into his aeroplanes and I was sat in my kitchen last week and was going over Facebook and I just saw this post about the Spitfire lady who died recently [Carolyn Grace].
"She ran a company that does flights in Spitfires and stuff like that. So that got me thinking 'I can do some fundraising for that.'
"So I looked at the website that does the flights and that's where the idea came from. So I spoke to the family about it first and they thought it was a good idea.
"Then I set up the gofundme page and spoke to my dad about it and he ended up crying in the kitchen when I was telling him. It's something he's always wanted to do.
"It would be something special."
Neil Snr says he is "obsessed" with Spitfires, having lived next to the air field in Hucknall for a number of years. Despite his diagnosis Neil continues to work, and says that he doesn't want to sit around feeling sorry for himself.
He said: "Well I live right next to the air field at Hucknall. I used to watch it flying around and I love the sound of it and the look of it.
"I've been obsessed with it ever since. I go to as many air shows as I can and go and watch a display and what have you.
"I used to be a member of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and every time I go to Skeggy I go to see if they're about. I've been a bus driver for 41 years now.
"I'm off today because I've got some treatment to have, Immunotherapy. It's my first session on that particular treatment today.
"I sometimes feel a little bit lethargic, but all-in-all I'm basically doing everything I normally do, because that's what I want to do. I don't want to be sitting around feeling sorry for myself and feeling like somebody owes me something."
To donate to Neil's gofundme page, click here.
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