Joe, who was a seemingly healthy young man, died on the 11th of April 2022 less than a month after his 32nd birthday on 14th March.

In the weeks and months leading up to his death there was no indication he was ill; he was a regular gym goer, runner, full-time chef and went on many holidays and trips, and was extremely active just days before taking ill.

What started off as just stomach bug symptoms, within days seemed more serious when his stomach became really swollen. We went to the hospital and after days of tests and confusion from us and the doctors he was eventually diagnosed with a GIST (Gastrointestinal Stomal Tumour), an incredibly rare stomach cancer.

We knew from how ill Joe was that it was extremely serious, but we had been given a treatment plan involving chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Having gone home feeling more relaxed that we finally had a plan towards getting Joe better, the next morning I received a phone call asking myself and Joe’s parents to come to the hospital. We were told that Joe was having severe breathing difficulties and had to go on a ventilator and was extremely unlikely to recover from this state. Just three days later he passed away.

I take some comfort in the fact that up until very shortly before his death he really was living life to the full, despite the global pandemic he managed to enjoy many holidays with me and his friends and we didn’t have any days off where we weren’t going to a nice restaurant or some sort of day trip. Me and his parents were with him at the end and the entire time he was in hospital we passed on the messages of love and support from the many people who knew and loved Joe. His care at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was fantastic and every member of staff went above and beyond to help Joe, but sadly the disease was too aggressive and fast moving for Joe to be saved.

While I am glad for Joe’s sake that he did not suffer for long, for me and all of Joe’s loved ones this has been a terrible shock.

As Joe was a very keen runner and had run the Ealing half marathon himself, me and our wonderful friends Marnie, Maddie and David have decided to follow in his footsteps and give it a go too. We feel this is an appropriate way to raise some money to hopefully help both patients and loved ones to have a better outcome than Joe in the future.

This is such a rare disease and really needs funding for vital research. We would be so grateful for anything you can donate.

Thank you, Lucy.