Stephen faced death twice... now every day is special

When he was 39, complications from bowel surgery led to a priest giving him the last rites.

Six years later he was told the cancer, which had returned and attacked his liver, was incurable.

But Stephen, who lives in Stepps near Glasgow, refused to give up and a specialist surgeon performed a procedure that gave him the all-clear.

Now 47, Stephen said: “The tumours are completely gone. I’m cancer-free, but I don’t get carried away.”

He was playing football with friends when he felt unwell.

“At first I thought it was constipation but then I started vomiting a lot, too,” he continued.

“A CT scan revealed a 10cm tumour was blocking my bowel.

“The first surgery was unsuccessful and the two ends of the bowel split, meaning it was leaking inside me and I was going downhill rapidly. I got the last rites from a priest.

“Emergency surgery saved my life.”

Seven months later, Stephen – married to Gillian – returned to work as a disability sports officer.

But four years later the cancer returned.

“Part of my liver was removed in November 2012 and then I had six months of chemotherapy.

“But a scan the following November confirmed another spread and in January I had more surgery.”

Six weeks later, Stephen was told the cancer was incurable.

“My oncologist indicated the average life expectancy was two years from the tumour first appearing on the liver, so I worked out I only had six months left.

“I went through lots of emotions, but I was defiant I’d find a way out of it.”

Stephen researched online and came across a specialist at Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital who’d used tissue from a cow’s heart to rebuild a cancer patient’s liver.

“I contacted the hospital and they said they’d give me a second opinion.

“My records were sent down and Hassan Malik, a surgeon from Glasgow, agreed to perform the surgery.”

Stephen had a procedure called radiofrequency ablation, where electrical energy is used to destroy cancer cells at high temperature.

Following blood clots on the lung and pneumonia, he had keyhole lung surgery in Clydebank in December, 2014. He’s now playing football with his mates again, as well as swimming and working out.

Helping him through it all was SHAWS, a Specialist Health and Work Service from the Beatson Cancer Charity.

It consists of NHS practitioners who assist with patients’ employment and financial issues, as well as helping them regain confidence.

“They helped me out massively,” Stephen said.

“A lot of people don’t understand what you’re going through, but they really did.

“They met with my employers – I retired through ill health – and also helped me psychologically.

“I can’t recommend them enough.”

He added: “I try to do things each day that make me happy.

“And right now every day is brilliant.”

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