Laura Pearce was told there was nothing the NHS could do, so she cashed in her life insurance and pension
A mum says the NHS told her she had weeks to live – only to save her own life by cashing in her pension to fund cancer treatment in Germany. Laura Pearce was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2018 after discovering a small lump under her left arm. The 54-year-old, from Llanelli, underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a lumpectomy in and was given the all-clear in September 2019.
The property consultant started experiencing exhaustion and a tightness around her liver in early 2023 and initially put her symptoms down to the menopause. Laura visited her oncologist and says she was told nothing was wrong, before ending up in A&E in pain in August 2023.
It was then Laura was horrified to learn she had stage four breast cancer, which had spread to her liver, lungs and bones. The mum-of-six says she was told around 85% of her liver was covered in cancer and that she had liver failure. After undergoing one round of palliative chemo, Laura said she was told there was no treatment other than hospice care and that she had less than a year to live.
Determined to see her children grow up, Laura began researching treatment options abroad and discovered Transarterial Chemoembolisation (TACE). TACE is a minimally invasive medical procedure used to treat liver cancer, which delivers high-dose chemotherapy directly into the blood vessels, according to Cancer Research UK.
Laura cashed in her life insurance and pension and began travelling to Frankfurt, Germany, every four weeks for treatment, costing her around £5,000 per trip. Over the following 13 months, Laura underwent 11 TACE procedures and microwave ablation, alongside systemic treatment and extensive monitoring, costing more than £100,000.
By September 2024, she was told she was in remission and says she felt lucky to be alive. Currently in remission, Laura now travels back to Germany every three months for check-ups. Laura, from Llanelli, said: “It was really shocking because I had been really well, super fit and active. I was so frightened. I’ve got six children and I’m a single mum, it wasn’t something I was willing to accept.
“When they told me I only had weeks to live, my son was with me. It was horrific. I had to go home and tell my children I only had weeks to live. I couldn’t believe it, they said there wasn’t anything they could do other than hospice. It was really frightening going to Germany for treatment. The doctor told me the treatment could kill me, but I would also die in a few weeks if I didn’t have it so I had to take that chance.
“As the journey went on, I got more used to it and the cancer started improving. It was really hard to believe I was in remission. It took me a couple of weeks to actually accept that it had gone, I feel so lucky to be alive. The NHS fails people with breast cancer. If I hadn’t gone to Germany, I would have been dead in a few weeks.”
However resorting to using her pension and life insurance money means that her future will be very different now. Laura said: “My savings have gone. I cashed in my pension. I used my life-insurance money. I effectively spent the money I had put aside for my future in order to make sure I actually had one. You can cash your pension towards treatment abroad, it’s really important people understand that.”
Feeling like she’d run out of options, Laura said her own research helped her find a potential treatment. Laura said: “I had tunnel vision with my research. In a way, I think it saved my life. The journey was brutal. I still have to be vigilant and I have to go back to Germany every three months for check-ups.
“I live with the fact that it could come back at any time, but I’m here, I’m alive and that’s all I wanted. It would have cost me my life if I had listened and just accepted that there was nothing more that could be done. If I had stayed in the UK, I wouldn’t have survived 2023.”
You can donate to Laura’s fundraiser, which covers medical, travel costs and a reserve fund if she requires further treatment, here: www.gofundme.com/u/3bf6f6af-7646-4858-8ad8-b3876bbe22af
Laura now devotes a significant amount of her time to helping other people facing cancer, sharing the knowledge and practical information she has gained through her own experience. The majority of the information she provides is free through her social media platforms, but she also offers paid consultations.
Laura said: “My time really is my gold. I receive an enormous number of enquiries and comments in my socials all of which I try to answer and simply couldn’t provide unlimited one-to-one support for free and still look after my children, my health and my home.
“I’ve had criticism online for charging for consultations, but they are entirely optional. Nobody needs to pay me to access the huge amount of information I share freely.
“My mission is to be around my children for as long as possible. I would encourage people to look for treatment options outside of the UK and to do their own research.
“Secondary breast cancer can appear in the liver, lungs, bones and brain and it gets missed and carries on growing without any symptoms. I feel like the NHS is about ten years behind. So many women die from stage four cancer without knowing there are options.”
Sharon Daniel, Director of Nursing, Quality and Patient Experience at Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “We can’t comment on individual cases because we need to protect our patients’ confidentiality. We are always sorry to hear when a patient is not happy with the care and treatment they have been given or of their experience during their time with us.
“However, I would like to reassure patients in our care that we always follow the appropriate NHS guidelines for treating the range of conditions we look after in Hywel Dda. We encourage patients who would like to speak to someone about their concerns, to please contact our Patient Support Team on 0300 0200 159 or by email at: hdhb.patientsupportservices@wales.nhs.uk.”
