Case study: Kenan

Kenan is a Turkish man, aged 49, and has lived in London since 2000. Following a three-year prison sentence for his political activity and constant police harassment, he left Turkey and claimed asylum in the UK but was refused.

My solicitor was not good. He didn't check anything. The Home Office said they didn't believe I was in prison. They didn't believe I was tortured. After that, I had no benefits and no permission to work. I did not hear from the Home Office since then.

In 2004 I felt some bleeding coming from my backside. It took five months to get an appointment and the doctor said I had bowel cancer. Then my world changed. Nobody sent me anything, nobody called me. After a few months, I got letter from them and they said 'We checked your situation and found out you are a failed asylum seeker and you are not eligible to get free treatment. You must pay this bill if you want to continue.'

After a big struggle, I was able to see a consultant. After two months I got a report. The doctor wrote that I could have this treatment in Turkey as well and they could not treat me.

I thought where can I go? What can I do? I tried to kill myself. In this time I went to a mental health hospital. I stayed three months.

I was in a lot of pain in my bowel, two days I have not been to the toilet. So I went to the hospital, they did a scan and said it is still working - we cannot treat you, it's not urgent. After another two days I went to the hospital again and they saw it stopped working. They operate. I stayed 14 days in the hospital.

After I had the operation, I found out that my penis didn't work anymore. This has made me very upset. Nobody told me this would happen. I asked the GP to send me to a specialist but he said, I can't send you there because these are the rules. I just want to know what happened - did they damage me or not?

And now big problem I have with money - the hospital sent me two different bills for my operations, about £16,000. I get lots of letters and phone calls about this debt.

Posted on 15 May 2009