A veterans’ advocacy group is taking on the case of a Nova Scotia widow fighting for compensation for her late husband’s medical expenses.

Wayne Collins died of multiple system atrophy – a rare neurological disorder that may have been linked to his time in the navy. He and his wife, Dawn Collins, spent much of their life savings seeking treatment, including a trip to Germany for stem cell therapy.

Wayne rallied for a while, but died in 2012.

“They don’t know how much the widows are hurting,” says Dawn. “It’s not only myself; there’s a lot of widows out there.”

The couple always believed Wayne’s disease was related to his service in the navy in the mid-60s, where he was exposed to carbon tetrachloride as a stoker in the engine room of several ships.

After years of fighting, the couple had been promised nearly $160,000 from Veterans’ Affairs to cover Wayne's medical expenses, but Dawn has never seen a cheque.

She says the decision was later revoked after it was denied by an appeal board and the former Conservative Veterans Affairs minister, and now her own health is deteriorating.

“I had to leave my job due to health issues and I truly believe that my health issues are caused from stress, because I’ve been fighting with Veterans Affairs for seven years,” says the Beaver Bank, N.S. resident.

With a new federal government came renewed hope, but her request for compensation was denied again - disappointing to both Dawn and veterans’ advocate Peter Stoffer.

“We let the minister know everything about it, the whole history of it, and for him to give the same answer the Conservative minister did was, to put it politely, extremely disappointing,” says the former MP, who sits on the board of the Veterans Legal Assistance Foundation.

Now, Stoffer plans to take Dawn’s case to federal court.

“Federal court, even if they rule in her favour, cannot order the Department of Veterans Affairs to overturn their decision,” he says. “They can only tell Veterans Affairs to review their decision.”

There is a precedent in the United Kingdom, where a sailor won a similar case.

Veterans Affairs says its decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and confirms the right to take the issue to federal court.

However, even if the court rules in Dawn’s favour and Veterans’ Affairs reverses its decision, it is too late to save her husband and too late to save her home.

It has already been sold and Dawn will be moving into an apartment before the end of June.

“I was comfortable in my home. I loved it here, and now I’m forced to move,” she says. “I can’t afford the upkeep.”

But Dawn says she still has hope the coming legal case will provide vindication for herself and for her late husband of 47 years.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw