Multiple sclerosis sufferer Roy Palmer is about to embark on the next phase of his pioneering treatment.

But it comes with risks he is prepared to take in the hope it will cure the debilitating condition.

The 43-year-old father of two from Quedgeley is determined it will work. He was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS but now has the secondary progressive form of the disease, which means it gets steadily worse.

He said: I fought for a year to get hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and many people told me I didnt fit the criteria but I didnt let that stop me.

Mr Palmer had a week of injections to draw the stem cells from his bone marrow.

He and his wife Helen travelled to Hammersmith Hospital in London where he was given a day of chemotherapy.

Mr Palmer lost his hair as a result and was left feeling sick and tired.

The stem cells have been frozen and will be reintroduced to his body after another aggressive course of chemotherapy.

It will be fed directly into a main artery in his chest before Mr Palmer spends the next four weeks in isolation.

He will start the treatment on September 18 his 24th wedding anniversary.

Mr Palmer said: Im not someone to sit around and feel sorry for myself.

If the treatment works then, oh my God, I couldnt begin to describe what it would mean to me.

He added: To be able to walk out of my front door would mean the world.

I know Im lucky to be able to get the treatment. Im worried, my immune system will be obliterated, but I have to give this everything. Im a fighter and determined to make this work.

Mr Palmers family back his decision to undergo HSCT treatment, although they worry about the effect it will have.

His 45-year-old wife said: When they give the chemotherapy it brings the body back down to zero.

It will stop any immune system and take some time for the body to start getting back to normal.

When Roys levels are up they will start to reintroduce the stem cells.

The MS Society website says HSCT aims to reset the immune system to stop it attacking the central nervous system.

It uses chemotherapy to remove the harmful immune cells and then rebuilds the immune system using haematopoietic stem cells found in bone marrow.

They can produce all the different cells in the blood.

Mrs Palmer said: Im happy for Roy to take that risk and to support him but it is a lethal dose of chemo.

The treatment can be done abroad and costs around 60,000. In the past we were considering that option but there is no aftercare.

The couples daughter Abi, 12, said: I feel a little scared for dad but okay. I cant remember him walking.

And 20-year-old son Jack said: Dad has been in a chair for about 10 years and to see him walk again would mean everything.

Just standing next to each other would mean the world.

Once the stem cells are back in Mr Palmers body the hope is he will make a full recovery and be free of MS,

He said: It will be great to not have to ask people to do things for me.

I do what I can but I dont like to hang around waiting.

I want people to know there is treatment and it can be a fight but Ive got to do this now.

Read more:
MS sufferer gets pioneering stem cell treatment - Gloucestershire Live