I have my own limited company and was working on the railway, most recently, up until July last year. I started having trouble going to the toilet. I was diagnosed with cancer and two operations later, I now have a stoma.
The chemo really had a big affect on my wellbeing – even more than the stoma – because it has changed my personality and I find myself really short tempered. I see the world differently now. I have less self-control. I’m stage three and waiting for radiation therapy now. I can’t praise PAH enough for my care.
My wife is in another country at the moment and we are currently fighting with the Home Office to get her back. We have to prove we’re married and we’ve been together 11 years. She was married before so has been in the country for a long time. The Home Office has tried to deport her. Unfortunately our solicitor didn’t apply for her citizenship properly. So my support system is my son and my brother, but both of them have a 100 mile round trip to get to me.
Because I have my own company, I don’t qualify for SSP. I’ve been relying on savings to get me through since stopping work in July, so it’s been 6-7 months and they’ve pretty much run out – all my money has gone on rent and all the bills, so I’m at the foodbank.
The pride of coming here really doesn’t matter to me, but I understand why people might worry. I look forward to telling people I’ve visited here so I can see how aghast they are!
We need more community. We need people to realise that we do have power. The government should be more realistic and stop cracking the whip. The capitalist model depends on punishment and we need many different points of view to make life better. I want to be active and enjoy life but I feel that we are pointed towards things that will eventually lead us to feel bad. I’d like to do more to help people, because I think in life, that’s all we can do.