Nick Featured On BBC News (16th May '07)
You can view the latest report from BBC News including an interview with Nick and his mum, by clicking here
Nick with 'his bird' Kelly Brook, taken last year on an amazing day out
at Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes, with friends Alex & Scott.
BBC News interview with
Nicks parents,
Sandi & Symon from their home
Wednesday 22nd August
- Click here to view the video -
Nicks mum interviewed on
BBC Radio Lincolnshire
Tuesday 21st August
Tributes have been paid to a young Lincolnshire man who died despite winning his fight to get funding for a special cancer drug.
Nick's mum Sandi has been speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire's William Wright
Click here to listen to Nicks mum Sandi
interviewed on BBC Radio Lincolnshire
Tribute to Nick Adams
Nick Adams lost his battle with cancer on Friday
A YOUNG man who captured the hearts of the community in his struggle against kidney cancer died in his mother's arms on Friday.
Nick Adams, 24, of Skegness, was given just weeks to live when he was diagnosed at the end of last year, but thanks to a relentless campaign for a special drug treatment spearheaded by his family, Nick was able to last nine more months.
His mother Sandi said: "He died in my arms and we were all with him. It was going to happen one day and if it had to happen it couldn't have happened in a nicer way."
"A lot of people have said they don't know how we coped but he was so strong and fought so hard for so long, but all his thoughts were about everyone else and never about him.
"He was so brave. His memory will always go on with the amount of people touched by him."
Nick was a former student of the Richmond School and the Earl of Scarbrough High School. He worked on Eastgate Market for many years before starting at the MARS Bar, Roman Bank, which he later took over with his father Symon.
Nick was a huge WWE wrestling fan and loved his car, a FT24 Mondeo.
He leaves behind his parents, sister Gemma, niece Charlie Nikki and grandparents Joan and Vic Hallam.
The Nick Adams Fund attracted phenomenal support from people in the town. Sandi intends to use any money left over from Nick's treatment for others in the same position.
She said: "People have said it didn't work but it did. We knew it wasn't a cure, it was buying time and it did. Without it he wouldn't have made it to January.
"I'm still going to be involved in fighting for the treatment so people are offered it straightaway."
Nick's funeral will take place at the Crown Hotel, Drummond Road, Skegness, at 2pm.
He will be cremated at Boston Crematorium at 4pm and a wake will follow at the Atlantic Bar, Castleton Boulevard, Skegness.
Sandi said: "Every single person is welcome to come even if they didn't know him but feel they got involved."
Family flowers only, but donations can be made to the Nick Adams Fund so the money can help others. There is no dress code and the event will be a celebration of Nick's life.
A condolescence book can be signed in New Look fashion store, Lumley Road, Skegness.
Skegness Man Nick Adams loses Cancer Battle
A Skegness man has died from cancer after losing a nine month battle to save his life.
Nick died in his mother’s arms on Friday.
Nick Adams, 24, was given just weeks to live after being diagnosed with kidney cancer last November. A long campaign was launched by Nick’s parents, Sandi and Symon to obtain life-prolonging drugs on the NHS.
Sandi said “Nick was a very determined man, brave to the end. He was written off but refused to give in”.
He was finally given the drug ‘Sutent’ on Boxing Day of last year and by the first couple of weeks in January he was able to walk, and not long after he was actually driving.
The family’s battle has paved the way for others to get life-prolonging drugs on the National Health Service. Sandi said “If we’ve any regrets it’s the time we’ve had to spend fighting for Nick’s drugs”.
Well wishers will be able to sign a book of condolences which will be available at the town’s New Look shop on Lumley Road where Sandi is manageress.
Nick won the hearts of Skegness people who rallied round to raise money for his drugs. Collection boxes were placed in many of the town’s shops and events were organised for his cause.
Man dies after cancer drug fight
(BBC News)
Renal cancer patient Nick Adams, 24, from Skegness, campaigned for funding for Sutent which can prolong life.
His family had been paying the £3,500 monthly bill for the drug, but convinced Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust to fund a three-month trial.
Nick Adams died on Friday. His mother Sandi Adams said he only thought of others. The trust refused to comment.
A Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust spokesman said: "It would not be appropriate for the PCT to comment about an individual's circumstances."
Sandi Adams said: "He only ever thought of other people, all along, even before his illness. It was just the sort of person he was."
Vowing to help families of other sufferers, she added: "Fighting to save someone's life is not one of the things that should be your responsibility.
"Many people that I've been in touch with don't know where to start and haven't got the strength to do it, so that's my way forward now."
A memorial service celebrating Nick Adams' life will be held at the Crown Hotel in Drummond Road, Skegness, on Tuesday.
PETITION LAUNCHED TO GET
FREE DRUGS FOR NICK
The petition was launched at the end of last week by Nick's family following the news a 75-year-old Lincoln man is receiving the drug for free for at least three months, funded by the Lincolnshire Teaching Primary Care Trust (TPCT).
The drug, called Sutent, is not available free on the NHS and Nick's family and friends have been paying the £4,200 a month by fund raising.
Nick's mother Sandi, manager of New Look fashion store, Skegness, said: "We were declined on the grounds the drug was experimental which it isn't because if it was, why are they giving it to this man?
"It does work. If the PCT took the trouble to talk to us they would see that.
"This has been going on for six months. Originally they told me if we could pay for three months and prove it was working they would help us. But now they're denying it." Nick, 24, was diagnosed with kidney cancer last November and was given just six weeks to live.
More than 50 forms have gone out into the community showing how much Nick's plight has captured the hearts of the town.
Sandi plans to present the petition personally to the PCT.
The family has tried everything to get the drug funded and at the moment everything they do is aimed at raising money.
They are even on a 'baked beans' diet to save money. Sandi said: "Nick has said he never sees us because we are always fund raising. "If we get funding we can concentrate on him which is really what it's all about."
Copies of the petition are available at New Look, Lumley Road, the Standard office at The Hildreds, and at many local businesses in the town.
Photo taken by Paul Gooch for Target
Skegness Cancer Victim Nick Adams
The grandparents of a Skegness cancer victim have launched a petition to make life prolonging drugs freely available on the NHS.
The couple, Vic and Joan Hallam are pictured on Lumley Road in Skegness with Val Harrhy who is signing the petition. Val said “It’s absolutely disgusting that people have to petition like this to get life-saving drugs on the NHS!”
Mr and Mrs Hallam said that the whole situation is “heart breaking”.
“Our grandson will die if he doesn’t get the drugs. They make a big difference to him and when he couldn’t get them he went downhill fast”.
“We’ve been doing house to house collections to try to get money for the cancer drugs and we’ve got £501 up to now”, Mrs Hallam told us. “We’re trying our best to keep our spirits up in such tragic circumstances”.
Cancer patient's drug plea agony
BBC NEWS - Friday March 9th 2007
The mother of a young cancer patient says the NHS has "left him to die" by refusing to fund his cancer drug. Sandi Adams said the NHS had refused to pay for Sutent, a drug which improves the symptoms of renal cancer.
The family from Skegness is paying £4,500 a month for treatment for 24-year-old Nick Adams.
Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust said it considered any requests to fund the drug on an individual basis, but patients could lodge an appeal.
It said the drug was a new one that was not routinely prescribed by the PCT - each case was considered by its Exceptional Case Committee.
Health managers said they had not yet prescribed Sutent to any patients in the county since it was licensed last June.
Mr Adams said he had one kidney removed, but at the end of last year he was diagnosed with cancer and told he had six weeks to live.
He said: "There are many people who have been offered treatment and drugs that cost a substantial amount of money but I have been offered nothing from the PCT at all."
His mother Sandi added: "We have re-mortgaged the house but even that is only a drop in the ocean compared to what we need in the year.
"But we can't get the one drug that we need."
She said the family had raised money by "taking around a bucket" in Skegness and depended on local donations.
"It is a constant battle - do you live or do you starve - or do you sell everything you've got? What price do you put on your son's life?"
She said the PCT should come to see her son and tell him why they would not allow him to have the drug that could keep him alive.
The drug has helped improve his quality of life, she said, adding he would probably only last six weeks.
Pat Hanlon from Kidney Cancer UK said: "It is spectacularly unfair that patients do not get the funding they require for new drugs."
He said the drug would slow down the progress of the disease and allowed patients to take advantage of other treatments like immuno-therapy.
The cost of staying alive
Daily Express - Tuesday March 6th 2007
Nick Adams is just 24. Last November he lay dying in a hospice, his body ravaged by kidney cancer. Then his mother Sandi heard of Sutent, which her local NHS Trust refused to pay for. She rallied her local community in Skegness, Lincolnshire, to raise the £4,500- a-month needed for the treatment.
Now in his second month on the drug, Nick is back on his feet and living a relatively normal life. Yet the Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust is still refusing to pay for the drug, saying it is not proven to work.
"What happened to Nick is nothing short of a miracle," says Sandi. "One day he was bedridden, couldn't eat or take himself to the toilet. Nine days after taking Sutent, he was back on his feet and eating his first meal in over 10 weeks.
"It is so unfair that the NHS won't pay for this drug. If I had breast cancer, the NHS would be spending money on chemotherapy or radiotherapy but those treatments don't work on kidney cancer patients, to the money saved should be spent on Sutent."
Later this month, when the results of Nick's next CT scan come through, the family is to appeal against the PCT's decision. "I lie awake night after night worrying about where the money will come from," she says.
A Lincolnshire PCT spokesman says: "As Sutent is a new drug it is not routinely funded. We consider any requests to fund this drug on a named patient basis, based on the published evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and the patient's individual circumstances."
Although the drug was licensed for use as a first-line cancer treatment in January this year, without NICE approval it is not deemed cost-effective. But NICE says it has not been asked to appraise either Sutent or Nexavar, another new kidney-cancer drug, by the Department of Health.
"There is no ban on prescribing any drug within its licensed indications in the absence of NICE guidance," a spokesman said. "Where NICE guidance is not available, licensed drugs and devices are assessed at a local level."
With individual trusts left to decide for themselves, there is a 'postcode lottery,' which has been likened to last year's scandal over the breast cancer drug Herceptin.
The Department of Health says: "The drug is licensed and patients should not be refused the supply because NICE guidelines does not exist. Trusts should consider funding if recommended by the clinician and in the light of existing evidence."
Pat Hanlon, a trustee for Kidney cancer UK, says Sutent and Nexavar enable patients to live up to two or more years longer. The charity has posted more than 1,200 signatories on the Downing Street website called for them to be made available on the NHS. "These new drugs bring new hope to thousands and we are now seeking legal advice as to whether we have a case against PCTs who deny treatment," Mr Hanlon says.
Some patients who fight back are winning. Keith Ditchfield, 53, from Stonyhurst, Lancashire, has just won his appeal on his fourth attempt to get Nexavar on the NHS. He was paying £3,000 a month for the drug privately as East Lancashire PCT refused to fund it.
"PCTs are looking for reasons not to fund these drugs because of cost," he says. "The evidence is there that the drugs work and if you fight your corner long enough, they run out of excuses."
Thanks to Mark Franklin @ Friends Of Frankie for the images
Latest news
Fund Raising£200 was raised on a Saturday night out on the town in Skegness by Nicks friends,
Alex & Scott. Great stuff!
Please look at the information page for latest info.