A cancer patient who has been denied a lifesaving transplant is calling on people to sign a petition to reverse the NHS’s decision.

Mother-of-three Sandra Redshaw, 51, was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer during her pregnancy with her middle child 15 years ago.

She was due to have a cell transplant in August, but less than two weeks before the procedure was supposed to take place, she was told it had been put on hold.

Her condition, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinaemia, is a type of lymphoma and affects about 4,000 people in the UK. She said the treatment costs about £25,000.

The petition she is backing calls on Parliament to stop NHS England’s ban on stem cell transplantation.

The petition says: “This unethical decision has left patients completely in limbo and placed in jeopardy those patients currently waiting to start their treatment.”

It was set up last Tuesday and has already gathered more than 8,000 signatures but needs at least 10,000 for the government to respond.

Sandra is among several patients across the UK to have been denied treatment as the NHS considers how to pay for a controversial HIV drug.

The High Court ruled the NHS should consider funding the preventative PrEP HIV drug, which costs up to £20m. The daily pill is for those who do not have HIV but who are at substantial risk of getting it.

NHS England is trying to overturn the decision and the ruling is not due for weeks, but Sandra is not hopeful the NHS will be successful.

She said: “My expectation is that it won’t be overruled.

“But it’s not about us being against the HIV drug, but more about finishing something that had been started.

“My stem cells are stored, I just can’t use them.”

Sandra, from Hartley, came back from holiday in France on August 6 and was due to start treatment on August 17.

Although her doctor says they can still do the treatment within the next six months, if it is delayed any further she would have to undergo more chemotherapy to prepare for the transplant.

"It’s not about us being against the HIV drug, but more about finishing something that had been started" - Sandra Redshaw

She said the delay in treatment has not only affected her but her children: “It’s been disruptive for the whole family, especially for my oldest son who is applying for university at the moment.

“To be honest, we just have to get on with life. I’m tired quite often but that could also be because I stay up too late. I’m OK at the moment.”

She was also supposed to return to work – at WH Smiths in Bluewater – within three months but this has also been disrupted by the treatment being put on hold.

Posting on Facebook this week, she added: “It’s been a totally mad week. Emotional, overwhelming, surprising are just a few words to describe it.

“I have been very moved by every lovely message of support, most of which made me cry – in a good way. I had no idea how lovely everyone would be.”