ALL one Barnsley man wants for Christmas is his independence back...
Wayne Hagland, 60, used to walk up to 12 miles a day with his dog but a devastating incurable cancer diagnosis in September has left him confined to a hospital bed.
It may be February by the time he gets home and his family have launched a fundraising campaign to buy him a mobility scooter so that he’ll be able to finally get out and about again.
Wayne, of Goldthorpe, had been complaining about back pain for a few months earlier this year and was prescribed painkillers.
But in September, a scan at Barnsley Hospital revealed he had an incurable type of bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma.
His partner Kim Hunt, 39, told the Chronicle: “After the scan we found out that he had cancer and he now finds himself in hospital fighting myeloma. It’s horrible and it was really hard.
“He has a cancer growth on his chest and one lodged in his spine.
“The one in his spine has crumbled his spine and at the moment he’s 75 per cent disabled from his waist down.”
Wayne is currently in Kendray Hospital for rehabilitation and attends chemotherapy sessions at Barnsley Hospital two days a week.
But doctors say he’ll be there for at least another eight weeks and Kim hopes by the time he gets home, the Go Fuind Me campaign will have raised enough for a scooter, giving Wayne back his independence.
She added: “Wayne usually doesn’t sit still. He used to walk between nine and 12 miles a day so this has just been so hard for him.
“Anyone that knows Wayne knows that he loves his outdoors. He’s always out walking his dog and now he’s not mobile at all.
“We’ve raised £1,200 so far - it’s really overwhelming.”
