Keytruda battle: Cancer-stricken Roy Nugter’s Christmas wish is one more round of ‘miracle’ drug

Seven months ago, Roy Nugter doubted he would be around to put his family’s sparkling giant Santa hat on the front door this year.

“I’m not confident I’ll still be here by Christmas, but I’m going to try,” Roy said then.

Now, with Christmas around the corner, the cancer-stricken husband and father is looking forward to watching his family unwrap presents underneath their tree in celebration.

Roy, 60, has been battling a rare cancer since 2018.

The Katikati man was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs, aged 55.

“It’s over five years now since the diagnosis. There’s no reason it can’t be longer. That’s such precious time,” he said.

Doctors gave him less than a year, without treatment, to live or one to three years with chemotherapy.

When the chemotherapy finally stopped working, Roy and his family set out to try “miracle” drug Keytruda but found its $100,000 price tag for a full course out of reach.

Pharmac funds Keytruda – a medicine that uses a person’s immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells – for some cancers, within certain eligibility criteria. Some skin and lung cancers are included, but not the type Roy has.

The family were dealing with the tragedy of suddenly losing his father-in-law in a crash as they were learning of tumours forming in Roy’s brain, near his spinal cord and trachea. They turned to the community for help.

Through the kindness of strangers via a Givealittle page, the family have now raised more than $65,000 in about two years.

With efforts from wife Debbie, son Kobie and an indefatigable network of friends, the family ran garage sales, fairs and leaflet drops to raise another $20,000.

“If you’d asked me way back then if I’d get the money, I’d say ‘probably not but I’d fight for it anyway’,” Roy said.

The money meant Roy was able to start treatment in June, sooner than expected, and as of early December had completed eight rounds.

“I’m not giving up. You can’t give up.”

Roy Nugter has a rare cancer but is getting Keytruda treatment thanks to people's donations. Photo / Alex Cairns

In the weeks since that first Keytruda treatment, Roy’s tumours shrank, he lost his “chemo weight”, regained his hair and found he had energy to kick a ball around with Kobie again.

“I feel so much better. I’m out playing bowls again. I’m working in the shed, making stuff for my boy. I feel hugely better. It’s made an amazing difference,” he said.

But the battle is not yet over. Earlier this month, Roy said he needed another $12,000 to help fund one more round of Keytruda and the associated administration costs, he said.

Roy, Debbie, Kobie and friends spent a recent Sunday distributing 1300 flyers on people’s cars at Bayfair and Tauriko shopping centres asking for help.

Leaflet drops were one of the ways they had managed to raise money so far.

Previously, Roy said he hated asking for help while Debbie said: “It’s really hard but … you have to push that other stuff aside, your pride and that”.

Once Roy has paid for nine rounds of Keytruda, any subsequent treatments were funded by the drug’s manufacturer Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD). However, he was still required to pay administration fees of about $2000 for each round.

Roy said doctors had told him he would likely need 12 to 16 rounds before they could determine whether Keytruda had been a success or whether he would need to start another course.

He was focusing on reaching 12 and hoping the $12,000 would get him there.

Roy Nugter has a rare cancer but Keytruda treatments have given him a new lease on life. Photo / Alex Cairns

“I have a feeling we will be fine,” he said.

Originally Roy was advised to wait until he had enough money for a full course of Keytruda, usually 10 rounds, but deteriorating health prompted swifter action.

Roy said the past year had been a “huge journey” and especially hard on Debbie and their friends.

A crucial motivation in Roy’s fight was to stay alive long enough to see his young son grow up. Words could not express how grateful he was to still be here because of people’s generosity, he said.

“I still look at the fact that people have given me their hard-earned money to give me life, and time with my boy. That makes a huge amount of difference,” he said.

“I can’t tell people how much it’s helped. I don’t know how to tell them what they’ve done.”

The best way Roy could think of was surviving.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.