Cancer and heart attack survivor shares anger as vandals destroy his Stoke Mandeville NHS mural

John Allen, aged 71 years of age decided he wanted to pay tribute to our amazing NHS staff by putting up a mural fixed to his fence at his house near Stoke Mandeville.

He is no stranger to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, as staff have helped him to not only beat cancer twice, but helped him after he had a heart attack and also through Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).

John decided to make a beautiful mural of meter high letters made from plywood, which were painted and then primed in a blue gloss.

He then attached a rope light of hundreds of LEDS to illuminate the display.

Cruel vandals however decided to smash the mural to smithereens, for absolutely no reason.

John said he was left disconsolate when he woke up to see his hard work in tatters.

John, a retired carpenter said: “I am honestly just saddened and angry about this. How can someone be so callous?

“The sentiment behind the mural, to celebrate workers fighting this horrible deadly disease. How can you want to smash up something celebrating their efforts?”

John added that frontline workers were doing an amazing job, and that their dedication was ‘inspiring to see’.

The mural had been up for about six weeks before it was smashed to bits last Friday night.

He said he reported the incident to the police, but naturally, with no witnesses or evidence, they would find it difficult to find the perpetrator.