Feb 2nd 2024
56-year-old David Kunzer lives in Salisbury with his wife Sarah and has four children. David is just one of the thousands of local people that benefit from projects funded by your donations and fundraising.
Here he shares his story of how the Stars Appeal made a difference to him and his family during his treatment at Salisbury District Hospital.
“In March last year, I was about to start a new job, so I went for a routine health check with my doctor. My GP wanted to do further tests and referred me for a colonoscopy. On May 5th, I had the colonoscopy at the Hospital in the morning. The team called me back immediately and, at 3pm that day, I had a full body CT scan.
The next week, I went with Sarah, my wife, for an appointment with Rob Padwick, the Colorectal Surgeon, to discuss my results. Mr Padwick explained that it was not good news and that he had found a tumour on the left hand side of my large bowel. He confirmed that it was bowel cancer. As you can imagine, at this point, my world started to fall apart..
The following Wednesday I had an operation to remove the tumour, which, thankfully, was successful and the cancer was contained. Five days later, I returned home. I am now continuing with my ongoing recovery.
I would like to thank Rob Padwick, his colorectal team, the nurses and staff at the Hospital for the exceptional care and support that I received. I am eternally grateful. I also want to thank the Stars Appeal. If it wasn’t for the Stars Appeal funding an extra CT scanner, I would not have received a full body scan on the same day as my colonoscopy examination.
Whilst recovering in Chilmark Ward at the Hospital, I also benefited from the free Wi-Fi, paid for by the Stars Appeal, and received cups of tea from the Stars Appeal tea trolley. I also enjoyed the tranquillity of the charity’s gardens during my stay, spending much time there with my family.
My final thanks goes to everyone reading this that supports the Stars Appeal, for the difference that you have made to my life and my family’s life. I ask that you carry on supporting the Stars Appeal, and the valuable work that the charity performs.”
You can find out more about our projects supporting patients with cancer at Salisbury Hospital by clicking here.