Alex’s Story

Alex Deeprose, 42 and from Bournemouth, was diagnosed completely “out of the blue” with an aggressive form of renal cell cancer in January 2023 and turned to the DCCF for help.

“I initially had no idea I was unwell. I was in Disneyworld in Florida, totally fine. The week after I got back, I started passing a lot of blood in my urine. I booked an appointment with the doctor, but before I could go, I had to be rushed to hospital as my bladder totally blocked due to bleeding.

“A few weeks and a lot of scans later, I was told I likely had renal cell (kidney) cancer, which was later confirmed.

“Fairly swiftly I was given a radical nephrectomy to remove the kidney, but unfortunately it had already spread. I’ve been going through immunotherapy and chemotherapy since, and still fighting it now!”

Alex, who is a fraud investigator for an insurance company continued: “I heard about the DCCF via Google searches.

“When I was laid up in bed from my surgery, my wife (pictured here) and I had a panic as I couldn’t work, and my sick pay hadn’t yet kicked in. The money I was granted from the DCCF paid two months of my mortgage and gave me the chance to recover enough to start earning again, which was crucial.

“The charity saved me a lot of stress during a time I was already experiencing my highest ever levels of worry, so thank you again!”