A HERO of the Glasgow Airport terror attack died of a rare cancer after the NHS let him down, his family claim.
We revealed that brave Stephen Clarkson, 59, lost his health battle last week.
Stephen Clarkson died after a battle with cancer[/caption]
His brother told how he had to drive the gravely ill builder 60 miles[/caption]
The burned remains of the Jeep used in the attack[/caption]
Stephen took down Kafeel Ahmed after the jihadist set himself on fire[/caption]
But his brother David, 62, told how, before his death, he had to drive the gravely ill builder 60 miles to Edinburgh for a hospital treatment session — only for it to be cancelled.
And he insists it took too long for medics to diagnose his sibling’s bile duct cancer.
Stephen, of Penilee, Glasgow, was dubbed the “Secret Hero” for shunning fame after he tackled Kafeel Ahmed, 28.
The terrorist had set himself alight after crashing a firebomb Jeep into the terminal in 2007.
Stephen was later honoured along with three other civilians who helped tackle the terrorists — Alex McIlveen, Michael Kerr and John ‘Smeato’ Smeaton.
But it wasn’t his only display of bravery. Two years earlier he had earned a police commendation for saving a man from plunging 100ft off Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.
Grieving David said: “Stevie lived next to the country’s biggest hospital but told me he was sent to Edinburgh because there weren’t enough doctors.
“I drove him and he was in agony with every bump. But we got there only to be told it was off. When he later got surgery, they opened him then stitched him back up. There was nothing they could do.”
Stephen died last Saturday in Glasgow’s Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.
David added: “It tortures me wondering if it might have been different if the cancer was spotted sooner.”
The NHS was approached for comment.
