Britain’s Got Talent star given year to live after rare cancer diagnosis

He's raising money for an expensive treatment which could give him "some valuable time" with family

Baptist minister Allan Finnegan was one of the stars of the 2020 series of BGT, reaching the semi finals with his stand-up comedy act.

Two years ago though, the 56-year-old began to have problems with his eyesight. After going to the doctors to get it checked, he was given the devastating news that he had tumours in both his eyes.

One of the tumours was ocular melanoma, an extremely form of cancer that affects the eye, the Mirror reports.

The dad-of-two received treatment for the tumour, but further tests revealed he had a certain type of gene that meant there was a likely chance the cancer would return, but this time in his liver.

And in December last year, Allan and his family received another devastating blow.

He told the Liverpool Echo: “I got diagnosed with eye cancer two years ago in December, which I'd never heard of. I was treated just after Christmas that year.

"It went well but the biopsy looked at my genes - if you’ve got a certain type of gene, there’s quite a high chance of cancer returning, and when it does, it usually is in the liver.

"Then in December last year, something showed up. I had to go back. It confirmed it had spread. I went to a consultant just after Christmas. He confirmed it was untreatable."

Allan has been given just 12 months to live, and the news has been heartbreaking for his wife Joyce, daughters Beccy and Rachael and his mum Linda.

He said: "Watching my wife and kids cry, seeing other people cry, that makes me more emotional.” 

The cancer has affected his eyesight, meaning that he can't drive, which in turn has had a knock-on effect on his comedy career.

In the last two years, Allan has only been able to do 10 gigs and he has had to take time away from his congregation as well.

There is potential treatment that could extend Allan's life expectancy though. One of these is chemosaturation therapy, which "saturates" the whole liver and targets tumours.

However, this is not available on the NHS and costs £50,000. Allan has been told he will need to undergo at least three of these treatments, bringing the total cost to £150,000.

As a result, he's set up a GoFundMe page to raise the money for the treatment.

Allan writes on the page: "I’ve been given 12 months but could extend this by receiving Chemosaturation Therapy, directly to the liver (Delcath).

"This would give me some valuable time with my family, friends and new 3 month old grandson, Albie. The treatment costs £50,000 per dose and I’ve been advised that I’ll need at least 3.

"Thank you so much for taking time to read this. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Be blessed Allan."

Within the first day, more than £25,000 had been raised, and at the time of writing the total is £35,610.

You can find the fundraiser here.

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