Jeremy Hunt’s heartbreak after brother’s death from rare cancer: How Chancellor always hoped ‘charming’ Charlie, 53, would survive sarcoma battle

Jeremy Hunt today made reference to his late brother Charlie as he unveiled a bumper £6bn NHS funding package.

Charlie Hunt died in August at the age of 53, three years after he was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma, an ultra-rare cancer that affects fewer than one in a million people.

Despite his terminal diagnosis, the Chancellor has previously said that he was always “hopeful” that his brother would pull through somehow.

Addressing the Commons as he announced the budget, Hunt said the health service would see an extra £3.5bn added to its budget to boost outdated IT systems.

He claimed it would stop NHS staff from wasting time filling out forms and instead increase the number of appointments available, helping to tackle the NHS backlog.

This would also help doctors more quickly interpret scans to detect diseases such as cancer, speeding up diagnosis, he added.

Hunt said his brother would have been “delighted” with the move.

Charlie, a successful businessman and father of three, was diagnosed with sarcoma in 2020.

He raised more than £140,000 through his own efforts for Sarcoma UK and the Royal Surrey Cancer & Surgical Innovation Centre, including running the London Marathon with his brother in October 2022, while undergoing treatment.

On her JustGiving page, she told how she had endured years of grueling treatment.

He described the surgery on his right leg, adding: “Since then, the battle has continued with surgery on both lungs.

“I have been in and out of hospital constantly but have received excellent treatment from the NHS and am still struggling almost three years on.”

After his death, Sarcoma UK paid tribute to Charlie, calling him “a lovely man and a tireless fundraiser”.

Around 5,300 people are diagnosed with sarcoma, an aggressive cancer of soft tissue or bone, in the UK each year.

But survival rates are low, with more than 100 different subtypes, making effective diagnosis and treatment even more difficult.

Estimates also suggest that more than 1,000 people will be diagnosed with an “ultra-rare sarcoma,” such as synovial sarcoma.

In October, Jeremy spoke of his heartbreak over losing his brother, revealing that he “never thought he would die.”

Speaking at a fundraising event for Sarcoma UK, he paid tribute to the families who used personal tragedies to push for progress and promised to do the same for Charlie.

“When I was Health Secretary, I used to meet many activists who had lost loved ones and were upset and saddened by the tragic loss of someone before their time,” he said.

“I was always impressed when people said, ‘Instead of getting angry, I’m going to do something.’ “I’m going to try to do something to make the NHS change so this doesn’t happen again.”

He added: ‘It is very difficult to relive the sadness of losing someone over and over again to try to prevent the same thing from happening to other families. And it is a wonderful thing.

In an interview with The Mail in July, the Chancellor also told how cancer affected his family and claimed the lives of both of his parents.

He also revealed that he himself once had a mole on his head that “grew and grew” and had to be removed.

“I was a cabinet minister at the time, not in my current job, but it was obviously the first time the ‘C word’ had been used in terms of my own health, so it makes you sit up,” he said.

But I was blessed. It was not a life-threatening cancer and was caught relatively early.

“I received excellent treatment from the NHS to have it removed, but I am very aware that members of my own family have had much tougher battles with cancer, and I know that is what families are going through across the country.”