David
It started with a stye. At least that was what David thought the lump on his bottom eyelid was. At the hospital, it was diagnosed as a cyst, but within a week, it had doubled in size, and now covered all his bottom eyelid, severely restricting his eyesight..
David recalls: “I was sent to UCH, and was given the devastating news : "It’s Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a form of skin cancer." But it's so far along that it's attached itself to the eye socket and a bit of your nose bone too. Sadly, this means you will lose your eye." My eye was surgically removed. However, within two weeks, I was getting serious head pains once again.”
“The oncologist told me, ‘The cancer's back’. I was undergoing one chemotherapy session a week, plus daily radiotherapy. I was in so much pain. I couldn't eat because my mouth was swollen. I couldn't taste anything. High doses of morphine were prescribed.
“I felt I didn't want to carry on. My daughter was the only thing that kept me going. She's nine, and she's my little angel.”
David, of course, had been off work all this time and was only receiving Statutory Sick Pay of £200 a month. That ended after six months.
After eight months of this grueling treatment, and recovery, he was finally declared fit for work – a really huge relief all round, but especially because his financial situation had become extremely difficult.
David recalls: “I was sent to UCH, and was given the devastating news : "It’s Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a form of skin cancer." But it's so far along that it's attached itself to the eye socket and a bit of your nose bone too. Sadly, this means you will lose your eye." My eye was surgically removed. However, within two weeks, I was getting serious head pains once again.”
“The oncologist told me, ‘The cancer's back’. I was undergoing one chemotherapy session a week, plus daily radiotherapy. I was in so much pain. I couldn't eat because my mouth was swollen. I couldn't taste anything. High doses of morphine were prescribed.
“I felt I didn't want to carry on. My daughter was the only thing that kept me going. She's nine, and she's my little angel.”
David, of course, had been off work all this time and was only receiving Statutory Sick Pay of £200 a month. That ended after six months.
After eight months of this grueling treatment, and recovery, he was finally declared fit for work – a really huge relief all round, but especially because his financial situation had become extremely difficult.
However, his employer, a large security firm, said he couldn’t come back until he had been cleared by Occupational Health.
David would keep asking when he could have the assessment, but the company was prevaricating as this was to their benefit. David was in total despair.
Fortunately, when he was at his lowest ebb, a friend told him about Paperweight, and David made the call. We leaped into action and in next to no time, Claudia, one of our employment specialists became involved.
Claudia takes up the story. “The company was fobbing David off, and this had legal implications, because after a few more months they could say the position was no longer available and justify David's non re-employment. We wrote to the company on David’s behalf, which immediately held their attention – David was back to work within a week.
“But I wasn’t satisfied with that. I told David he was entitled to the pay he had lost from the two months he’d been waiting. The company didn’t want to play ball, so we took the case to the arbitration service, ACAS. At that point, the company made a settlement offer, but I advised David to hold out. ACAS awarded David almost all that we were asking for - over £5,000.” An excellent result !
David says, “I can't thank Paperweight enough. Without their help, I wouldn’t have known where to begin fighting this. I don’t have the contacts, I don't know how the system works. Paperweight have been very good for me. More people should know about them.”
David would keep asking when he could have the assessment, but the company was prevaricating as this was to their benefit. David was in total despair.
Fortunately, when he was at his lowest ebb, a friend told him about Paperweight, and David made the call. We leaped into action and in next to no time, Claudia, one of our employment specialists became involved.
Claudia takes up the story. “The company was fobbing David off, and this had legal implications, because after a few more months they could say the position was no longer available and justify David's non re-employment. We wrote to the company on David’s behalf, which immediately held their attention – David was back to work within a week.
“But I wasn’t satisfied with that. I told David he was entitled to the pay he had lost from the two months he’d been waiting. The company didn’t want to play ball, so we took the case to the arbitration service, ACAS. At that point, the company made a settlement offer, but I advised David to hold out. ACAS awarded David almost all that we were asking for - over £5,000.” An excellent result !
David says, “I can't thank Paperweight enough. Without their help, I wouldn’t have known where to begin fighting this. I don’t have the contacts, I don't know how the system works. Paperweight have been very good for me. More people should know about them.”
I felt I didn't want to carry on. The only thing that kept me going was my daughter. She's nine, so she's my little angel.
david
