\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA father who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer following his wife\u2019s death from the disease is raising funds for life-saving treatment overseas.<\/p>\n
Paul Garratt, 43, from Saffron Walden, Essex, was first impacted by cancer when his wife of a decade, Heather, died from breast cancer at just 31.<\/p>\n
Years later, in September 2019, Paul met his now-wife, Rachel, 39. However, during a date night in October 2020, Paul suffered uncontrollable vomiting, leading to an A&E visit where a cancerous tumour was discovered blocking his bowel.<\/p>\n
He underwent emergency surgery to remove the blockage, followed by chemotherapy treatment, but over the years, the cancer has spread to his liver, lungs, brain and, most recently, the bones in his spine, shoulder and hip \u2013 and Paul now lives with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer.<\/p>\n
Paul and Rachel wed in April 2022, and the night before he received the news that the cancer had spread to his lungs, the pair discovered Rachel was pregnant with their now two-year-old son, Elias.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul lives with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nReaching the end of options available on the NHS, Paul has sought and received treatment overseas with hopes to continue, and his family has launched a GoFundMe page to support him in his endeavour, raising more than \u00a3300,000 to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phrase I\u2019ve used before is that surely lightning can\u2019t strike twice,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life had gone from rock bottom to amazing. I lost my first wife, and you think you\u2019ll never recover, but then you meet someone, and it\u2019s this beautiful story.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there\u2019s a baby, my career was getting back on track \u2013 and then this cuts in on you and you think, \u2018how did this happen?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, it\u2019s given me the will and desire to fight, to see my child grow up and to grow old with my wife. When your desire to live is that strong, you keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul met his second wife Rachel in September 2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPaul was first impacted by cancer when his first wife, Heather, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after suffering with \u201cworsening\u201d hip pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cA doctor told us that she had cancer; they didn\u2019t know where it had originated from, but it was all over her body and it had destroyed her skeleton, particularly her hip,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like you were plunged into a nightmare that you didn\u2019t wake up from, there was no rhyme or reason \u2013 she was young, fit, slim, healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul said Heather \u201cbattled for two-and-a-half years\u201d before she succumbed to the disease in May 2018 at the age of 31.<\/p>\n
As the pair had been married for 10 years, Paul said his grief was \u201cvery difficult to deal with\u201d as it felt like \u201chalf of you is gone\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul with his son Elias (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn September 2019, Paul met his now-wife Rachel on an online dating app.<\/p>\n
They were having dinner together one night in October 2020 when he suddenly felt \u201ca bit iffy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter dinner, I started being sick and it just didn\u2019t stop, it was every 30 seconds,\u201d he said, adding he thought it was severe food poisoning.<\/p>\n
Rachel took Paul to A&E but as COVID-19 restrictions were in place at the time, he had to enter the hospital alone.<\/p>\n
Paul said he \u201cstumbled in\u201d and he was given medication to ease his vomiting.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul said his bowel was \u2018blocked\u2019 by a tumour (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAfter blood tests and a CT scan, Paul was informed his bowel was \u201cblocked\u201d by a tumour, which was thought to be cancerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a desperately bleak, harrowing moment when you have no one there, no one\u2019s allowed in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\nMain symptoms of bowel cancer<\/h2>\nNHS<\/h3>\nSymptoms of bowel cancer may include:<\/p>\n
\nchanges in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you <\/li>\n needing to poo more or less often than usual for you <\/li>\n blood in your poo, which may look red or black <\/li>\n bleeding from your bottom <\/li>\n often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet <\/li>\n tummy pain <\/li>\n a lump in your tummy <\/li>\n bloating <\/li>\n losing weight without trying <\/li>\n feeling very tired or short of breath \u2013 these are signs of anaemia, which can be caused by bowel cancer <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPaul said he made a \u201cdesperate prayer\u201d while on his hospital bed, asking God to \u201cgive (him) a chance to live\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had seen cancer up close and I thought it was the most shocking and intimidating thing I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was deeply traumatised, not so much by my wife\u2019s death, but how she suffered and when I was diagnosed, it was a sense of \u2018could this happen to me?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul and Rachel tied the knot in April 2022 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPaul said as he prayed, he felt \u201cpeace come around (him)\u201d, and he felt a sense of \u201chope\u201d to \u201cfight\u201d.<\/p>\n
He was rushed for emergency surgery the following day to remove both the tumour blocking his bowel and a section of his large intestine.<\/p>\n
The tumour was removed \u201csuccessfully\u201d, Paul said \u2013 but during the operation, doctors found the cancerous cells had spread to some of the surrounding blood vessels.<\/p>\n
As a result, the surgeons decided to remove some of Paul\u2019s impacted lymph nodes and most of the peritoneum \u2013 the membrane lining the cavity of the abdomen and covering the abdominal organs \u2013 on his right side to reduce the risk of the cancer spreading further.<\/p>\n
The following day, however, it was found Paul had \u201ca spot on (his) liver\u201d, meaning the cancerous cells had spread from the tumour, entered his bloodstream and manifested in the organ.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul has received life-saving cancer treatment overseas (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPaul spent six weeks recovering from the mammoth operation, described to him as the equivalent of \u201chaving been hit by a bus on the right side of (his) body\u201d.<\/p>\n
He then started chemotherapy treatment on a \u201cbrutal regimen\u201d which lasted until April 2021.<\/p>\n
The following month, Paul had surgery to remove the metastasis on his liver and he began another round of chemotherapy from June to August 2021.<\/p>\n
Paul said his scans then came back clear for around a year \u2013 he and Rachel got married in April 2022 and the following month, they discovered they were expecting a baby.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a miracle, we were amazed,\u201d Paul said, adding he was previously warned the chemotherapy treatment could make him infertile.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul with his wife Rachel and their son Elias (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nUnfortunately, the very next day, Paul was told by his oncologist that the cancer had metastasised in both of his lungs, with \u201clots and lots of nodules\u201d appearing in the area.<\/p>\n
Paul said another spot was also found on the left side of his peritoneum, where it was thought a \u201cmicroscopic deposit\u201d invisible to the naked eye had been dropped during his initial bowel surgery.<\/p>\n
He received targeted cancer treatment on his lungs and peritoneum throughout 2022 and 2023, and he was also accepted onto various clinical trials.<\/p>\n
It was then found that a metastasis had developed on his brain, and Paul received a craniotomy to cut out the spot in April 2024 \u2013 although the metastases later returned to the area.<\/p>\n
Paul received more chemotherapy treatment, but earlier this year, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his bones, in particular his spine, shoulder and hip.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul\u2019s family launched a GoFundMe page to support him (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cThere comes a point where you\u2019re told you may not wish to have any more treatment, and that you may wish to live out your days as best you can,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way I can let that happen \u2013 I have a baby, I\u2019m married, I\u2019ve got to get my life back on track.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can\u2019t I be an exception and fight this, and see my little boy grow up and take him on his first day to school?\u201d<\/p>\n
Reaching the end of treatment available on the NHS, Paul and his family have looked further afield \u2013 and he has undergone treatment and consultations in Germany and America with hopes to continue.<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s family members have launched a GoFundMe page to support him, raising more than \u00a3310,000 so far.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Paul said he lives as though he is \u2018going to recover\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just what the money has enabled us to do medically, which has been amazing, but it\u2019s almost like there\u2019s a whole crowd of people saying, \u2018come on, move forward, don\u2019t give up, keep going\u2019,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still need to raise more, however, as there are newer drugs and personalised, targeted treatments coming out in Germany that I can access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the future, Paul said he aims to \u201clive as though (he) is going to recover\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m carrying on working, carrying on with going to the gym, playing tennis \u2013 it\u2019s a way of telling your body \u2018change is coming\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the sadness and the pain, I have an overwhelming desire to be a survivor.\u201d<\/p>\n
To find out more, visit Paul\u2019s fundraiser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more A father who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer following his wife\u2019s death from the disease is raising funds for life-saving treatment overseas. Paul Garratt, 43, from Saffron Walden, Essex, was first impacted by cancer when his wife of a decade, Heather, died from breast cancer at just 31. Years later, in September 2019, Paul met his now-wife, Rachel, 39. However, during a date night in October 2020, Paul suffered uncontrollable vomiting, leading to an A&E visit where a cancerous tumour was discovered blocking his bowel. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the blockage, followed by chemotherapy treatment, but over the years, the cancer has spread to his liver, lungs, brain and, most recently, the bones in his spine, shoulder and hip \u2013 and Paul now lives with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer. Paul and Rachel wed in April 2022, and the night before he received the news that the cancer had spread to his lungs, the pair discovered Rachel was pregnant with their now two-year-old son, Elias. open image in gallery P…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}