“All she wanted to do was get home and make memories”: Mother dying of rare cancer is homeless

A mother who is on her deathbed suffering from a rare form of cancer has been made “effectively homeless,” as a town hall cannot find her a property.

Kirsty Fielding, 28, who was diagnosed with Sarcoma, a type of cancer that makes up only one per cent of cases globally, has been told she has just weeks to live.

She wanted to spend her remaining weeks alive in a home with her two-year-old son, but Lewisham council has not managed to find her a property while she is on the waiting list. The family have been living in an overcrowded property.

Her husband, Alex Fielding, 31, said it was “heartbreaking” and that they had been waiting for three weeks for Lewisham to find them a home.

Since the diagnosis they have been living at Mr Fielding’s aunt’s house in Catford, and the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea.

Mr Fielding said: “This could have all been sorted three weeks ago. All Kirsty wanted to do was get home and make some memories with her son.

“Now she is going to a hospice, she is still strong and fighting but she has deteriorated over the past few days and is not eating much.”

Mr Fielding claimed the council told him he could not continue the housing application as Kirsty was the lead applicant, even though she was sick with cancer.

He said they were told they could move to a temporary accommodation, but this has not yet happened.

He said: “We’re not sure how much longer Kirsty has got. It’s unacceptable.”

Kirsty, whose 29th birthday is in two weeks, was diagnosed with the cancer last year, but after surgery it appeared to have gone away.

In September this year Kirsty went to hospital for a check-up and doctors found the cancer had returned, with a 9cm tumour on her lung. She was given a year to 18 months to live.

It was at this time that the family were trying to find somewhere to live.

The couple had hoped to take their son to Disney Land in Paris and get married there, setting up a fundraiser to help them pay for it, but the cancer progressed too rapidly and they were forced to get married in hospital.

Kirsty was given chemotherapy, but the type of cancer she has makes it very difficult to treat, and her body rejected it.

Within two weeks of discovering the tumour it had doubled in size, and Kirsty’s life expectancy reduced to three months.

Mr Fielding said the last scan showed the tumour had grown to 20cm and had effectively collapsed one of Kirsty’s lungs. He said he was “desperately trying to get her a family home”.

He added: “I’ve given it everything I can. She had a perfect [wedding] day and I think that’s why she’s still here now.

“Her last wish is to be home with her son. It’s heartbreaking. There’s nothing the doctors can do.”

A Lewisham council spokesman said: “We are  looking into the case.”

Pictured top: Alex and Kirsty Fielding (Family handout)