Thank you for taking the time to click on our fundraiser.

We are raising money for Brian, who some may know as ‘Chug’, who is currently facing the fight of his life.

In March 2025, Dad was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. He faced an intensive course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which thankfully was successful. The treatment was incredibly gruelling and left him with horrible and lasting side effects, but throughout it all, Dad showed a strength and resilience that amazed us.

He never gave up. He kept going for his family, even on the days when he was exhausted, in pain and struggling with the effects of treatment. He was there for the birth of our daughter Zoë and still continued to help us, despite not feeling well himself.

Towards the end of the year, Dad began noticing changes to his eyesight. He developed double vision and pain, particularly when lying down. After further investigations and an MRI scan, we were given the devastating news that a lesion had been found in the Meckel’s cave/cavernous sinus area.

This is an extremely rare spread of his cancer, and we have been told that doctors in Northern Ireland have never encountered a case like this before.

To say this news has devastated our family would be an understatement.

Dad is not just our dad. He is a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend — and most importantly to us, he is Ollie and Zoë’s only Granda. He is such a huge part of our children's lives, and not having him come over to visit and seeing him regularly has been really hard on Ollie.

As a family, we have explored every option we can find, including looking at treatment in America. As a result of meeting with the top surgeon in America, we were put in touch with a private consultant in Bristol who has experience operating in this extremely complex area.

The operation he needs is not a straightforward procedure. The location of the lesion, within the Meckel’s cave/cavernous sinus region, makes surgery incredibly complex and delicate. This is an area deep within the skull, surrounded by vital nerves and blood vessels, and operating here requires highly specialised expertise. It is an intense and major operation, with significant risks, but it may offer Dad an opportunity that we simply cannot give up on.

The cost of accessing this specialist treatment in Bristol, and the surgery is astronomical.

Dad is now unable to drive and, because of his illness, is unable to work. Alongside everything else our family is dealing with emotionally, the financial reality of trying to access this treatment is overwhelming.

We are asking for your help as we want to give Dad every possible chance.

Every donation, no matter how big or small, will help us towards the cost of his operation and specialist treatment. We know times are difficult for everyone, and we genuinely appreciate that not everyone will be in a position to donate. Even sharing our page could make a huge difference by helping us reach someone who can.

Dad has already fought so incredibly hard. He has endured months of brutal treatment, faced unimaginable news and continued to show strength when we know how frightened and exhausted he must be.

Now, it’s our turn to fight for him.

We want our children to have more memories with their granda. More birthdays. More Christmases. More cuddles. More laughs. More ordinary days together — the days that we once took for granted. Especially his random knocks on the door at our home in Glasgow where I used to shout at him for not giving me notice to clean the house 🤣

We are not ready to lose him.

Please, if you can, help us give Dad and Granda the best possible chance of getting through this. ❤️

*any excess funding will be used to support rehabilitation, therapies, follow up private appointments and the support family with the cost of travel / accommodation to and from Belfast/Glasgow to Bristol*