Imagine you are trapped at the bottom of a cliff with the tide rising around your ankles. Then a rescue team appears and throws you a rope. Just as you prepare to be hoisted to safety, your saviours callously throw the other end of the rope down, leaving you stranded.

This is how it must feel for mother of three Sandra Redshaw. She had been promised a stem cell transplant, undergone invasive chemotherapy – and is now told the procedure is on hold. The reason her “rescuers” have walked away is because the NHS is involved in a funding dispute over a remedy totally unconnected with her own condition.

Health bosses have stalled treatment for people like Mrs Redshaw because they are involved in a legal battle over a preventative drug costing up to £20m for potential HIV sufferers who aren’t even sick yet.

Mrs Redshaw has been ill, on and off, for 15 years yet saw light at the end of the tunnel once the go-ahead for the transplant was given and she underwent the chemo. Now the clock is ticking on that treatment which could be rendered a waste of time, and money, if the procedure does not happen.

We understand that the NHS has difficult decisions to make every day about the provision of treatment and funding, often having to play ‘god’ with people’s lives. It cannot be easy to balance these competing interests and we would not want to do it. But in this case it should not be an “either or” situation.

There are 4,000 people in the UK with this type of lymphoma, so we are not talking about a handful of people. Mrs Redshaw has been touched by the wealth of public support since her problems first emerged. If you want to join them, sign the petition on Facebook searching for her name.