A young woman who was refused life-saving cancer treatment twice has lost her two-and-a-half year battle with the disease.
Nadejah Williams, 23, of Stoke Newington, who was suffering from a rare form of colon cancer, passed away at home on Saturday.
The former contestant of Channel 4 reality show Shipwrecked and face of Teenage Cancer Trust was refused a pioneering type of radiation therapy recommended by her consultant at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood to treat the signet ring cell colon cancer.
Miss Williams was told in March that the best chance of a cure lay in CyberKnife therapy, which uses precise pencil beams of radiation to treat cancers once thought to be inoperable.
But she was refused the treatment in June and lost an appeal in July before finally being awarded the treatment in September.
By the time the treatment was approved, Miss Williams’ tumours were too big to treat.
The fashion and magazine stylist was first diagnosed in October 2011 when she was doing an internship in New York. In an interview with the Hackney Gazette last year, she said: “I had everything in the palm of my hands. I was going places with my life.”
Her mother, Michelle Campbell-Cairns, 45, at the time said the refusal was “like funding her death certificate”.
A spokeswoman from NHS England said they could not comment on individual cases.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here