In August last year, Harry was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

In the lead up to his diagnosis, Harry had been to the doctors on multiple occasions, yet his symptoms were very quickly dismissed and suggested to be something else.
Eventually, a few precautionary scans and appointments were made and Harry began progressing through the system..
However in July, Harry was rushed into hospital with a perforated bowel and awaited emergency surgery for part of his bowel to be removed. He recovered from the surgery in hospital over the next few weeks and was discharged 2 days after his 27th birthday – yet with the news that he had cancer.

We were told by the surgeons that they had removed a large mass during surgery. They believed this to be the primary source but only area of cancer, so once Harry had recovered fully from surgery he could begin a ‘mop up’ course of chemotherapy and that in 6 months he should receive the all clear… yet just one month later we learnt this was not the case.
With further scan reviews, Harry was told that his cancer was aggressive and in the time it took for a diagnosis it had in fact speed to other areas of his body. He was stage 4.

This was of course a devastating blow, yet Harry bravely faced this news head on - He was determined to fight this with everything he had.
We began to research his options, visit other hospitals for second opinions and even looked in to clinical trials.

Over the next couple of months Harry endured invasive and gruelling chemotherapy cycles.
Among many things, this caused him severe and painful side effects - yet on suggestion that the chemo treatments were reduced in order to subdue the pain, Harry refused. He wasn’t going to give the cancer an easy ride and he wanted to attack it as hard as he could.
In amongst all of the chemo, blood tests and appointments, Harry tried to continue his life as normally as was possible. He’d walk lots to help clear his mind, went on weekends away with friends and spent time with family planning different ways of fund raising - for when he felt stronger.

There was a short while of relief in early December, when Harry was told the cancer appeared to show no signs of growth… Unfortunately, this good news was short lived and just a few weeks later further reviews of his scans showed that this was not the case – the cancer had in fact spread and it was not being contained.
Harry agreed to take on a different chemo drug and he would continue to fight this disease that was threatening to consume his body.
We tried to remain as positive as possible, but it was clear that Harry’s options were running out and his fight was becoming more difficult.

A few days before christmas, Harry was admitted back in to hospital with chronic pain. We were told that there was a blockage caused by the cancer growth and that surgery would again be needed. Apart from being allowed home for a few hours on christmas day, he remained in hospital waiting for the surgery that was due to take place early in the new year.

However, on 2nd Jan this year, we received some devastating news… Harry was told that the surgery would not go ahead.
The medical team felt that his condition was too severe to operate on and had concerns that his body had weakened too much to recover from the surgery.
The second blow was to learn that due to the blockage caused by the cancer, they were unable to proceed with further chemotherapy treatment. Of course, Harry didn’t take this lightly and requested for his case to be reviewed by other hospitals and surgeons. However, after lengthy talks with his medical team, the decision was made to bring Harry home and he would receive palliative care to monitor his pain.

Medically, there was nothing more they could offer…the options had all now run out.

Harry was told that he would only have a matter of weeks left.

I don’t know if it’s possible to brace yourself for such news .. Or to even accept it…
We were all utterly heartbroken by the brutality of what was coming and that we were all helpless to stop it.
All we could do was support and comfort Harry as much as we could and to try our best to keep him from being scared.

Shorty after coming home, due to his increasing pain Harry moved in to Fairleigh hospice, where he was cared for by a wonderful team of nurses. We all had reservations as to what sort of a place the hospice would be, but we were overwhelmed with what this was in reality. The staff did all they could to ensure Harry was comfortable and rested.
He was never alone - the hospice allowed us to visit him anytime or to take him out and there was always someone to stay with him overnight.

Surrounded by his family, Harry passed away on 17th January.
It was only 5 months since his initial diagnosis.

 I wanted to include a few words that Harry shared back in October…

“I’ve learnt recently that your human body isn’t indestructible and that warning signs can be given in many cases, these should be acted upon or at least spoken about.
You take the cards you get in life, yet I now know I have the fight of my life in front of me.
I’m trying to be positive and I want to be around positivity but I also feel that I want to raise awareness of bowel (and other) cancer symptoms for people of a young age – to help with an earlier diagnosis”.

Harry wanted to begin fundraising for bowel cancer uk, in order to raise as much funding and awareness as possible. Unfortunately, as Harry never got a chance to do this himself, as a family we promised to persue this cause in his memory – and to encourage everyone to support whichever way possible!

Bowel cancer a disease that is not talked about as frequently or as openly as others, yet it is the fourth most common cancer in the uk and one that is devastating lives in a growing number of younger people - this is something that needs to change.
Although it is the fourth most common in the uk – it is also second biggest cancer killer in the uk. Yet it needn’t be.. With early diagnosis it is easily treatable – which is why research and awareness for this disease is so important.
Many younger people and healthcare professionals are not aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer, and are not aware of bowel cancer as a disease younger people can develop… Leading to one of the bowel cancer uk slogans stating “Never too young"


Harry’s family thank you all for your generous donations so far and we will continue to keep this number growing in memory of our much be loved Harry.