A Bordon woman finally won her agonising fight to have her incapacity benefit reinstated at a tribunal in Aldershot on Wednesday. Brave cancer sufferer Fiona Jackson has been forced to live on just £44.96 per week since having her benefit stopped following a medical assessment last November. She appealed against the decision and has been fighting to get her benefit back ever since, while surviving on hardship money from the income- support service. After six months of waiting, Mrs Jackson, accompanied by friend Jill Long and represented by Chris Greenslade from the Citizens' Advice Bureau in Alton, finally got the decision she had been praying for. The tribunal panel, chaired by lawyer Mrs Campbell and Dr Fernando, decided to reinstate her benefit as she was not required to look for work, but did not grant her an exemption from future personal assessments. The mother of two has been unable to work since contracting ovarian cancer in 2003, from which she is now in remission for the second time. Mrs Jackson told the tribunal panel how the ordeal had "blown her life apart" and that she "couldn't cope". The former classical guitarist suffers serious physical pain and finds it difficult to walk or sit down for long periods. She has been in too much pain to do even the most basic household chores and described the agony of watching the cobwebs grow while lying helpless on her couch. Mrs Jackson also spoke of her mental anguish following the murder of her younger brother in Scotland in January 2005. The former care assistant has been on anti- depressants, painkillers and sleeping pills to cope with the loss of her elder sister to breast cancer in 2004, and her other sister's ongoing battle against lung cancer. The tribunal also heard of Mrs Jackson's work as a representative of OVCA, a charity which provides support for women with ovarian cancer, and her dream of building a cancer-screening unit in Bordon. Mrs Jackson, a former town councillor for Whitehill and Bordon, said: "I didn't want to be labelled as one of these people who are trying to shirk off work. I didn't want to be tarred with the same brush. I have been fighting for principle as well as money. Hopefully this will be a step forward for other cancer sufferers who are in the same position as me. "I told the Department of Work and Pensions that this case was Jackson versus John Hutton MP. His department needs to change its attitude and recognise its responsibilities to those who are willing but simply unable to work." Teresa Jameson, manager of Alton CAB, said: "It is really pleasing to have helped our client Mrs Jackson get a positive result. Her case was a very complicated, distressing and drawn-out one, and we are delighted that the action we took against the inappropriate decisions made by the Department of Works and Pensions was successful."
