Working long, gruelling hours as a plasterer, Kris Cooke was used to experiencing aches and pains – so he was floored when he was told that his ‘backache’ was cancer.
Earlier this month, Mr Cooke, 46, from Erith, southeast London was told that he has less than a year to live after being rushed to hospital with shortness of breath and pain in the top right of his back.
He had spent several months in discomfort before getting medical help – assuming it was just down to the grind of daily life – but X-rays revealed that his left lung had collapsed and he had multiple blood clots around his heart, as well as a lump on his pancreas.
A few days later, he received the devastating news that this lump was advanced pancreatic cancer, and he was referred to palliative care.
Speaking on behalf of Mr Cooke – a healthy conscious vegan – his close friend Louise Comiskey, 43, from Dartford, Kent, revealed that this news came as a total shock to everyone.
She said: ‘He had a slight back pain for the last couple of months but assumed it was a pulled muscle. He figured he pulled it at work or just slept funny because he just got a new mattress.
‘Obviously it was very concerning and upsetting for everybody involved. It is devastating. The cancer is aggressive and quick.
‘He is a very kind and beautiful soul. He is such a well-loved, well-liked, fun, easy going, person. He has been so busy with people trying to visit him.
Kris Cooke has been told that he has less than a year to live
‘We are just very shocked. He is vegan, he does yoga, and he has never had a health issue.’
Mr Cooke had been trying for a baby with his long-term girlfriend Maria, who is the sister of his late childhood best friend, and the pair were due to get married.
To make sure they were able to achieve their dream of becoming husband and wife, on Monday they had a wedding ceremony in his hospital room, wanting to tie the knot while they still could.
Sadly, the next day Mr Cooke was given the news that the cancer had spread to his liver, and he now only has 6-12 months to live.
His wife Maria, 42, who is a mum-of-three, said: ‘It was a ridiculous shock. We are trying to cope as well as we can. He went to hospital because he thought he had strained a muscle.
‘He was super healthy, he is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat any processed food. He was really careful about what he eats.
‘We wanted to get married anyway, that was the plan. Kris had found a ring. But when we found out the news, we just didn’t know how much time he had. We thought let’s just do it now.
‘It was nice. It wasn’t what we wanted, but we are happy that we are married.’
Mr Cooke married his long-term partner Maria in a hospital ceremony on Monday
Now, Mr Cooke is undergoing chemotherapy to extend his life for as long as they can, but he is extremely tired and on a lot of morphine for the pain.
Ms Comiskey and some of his other friends have organised a GoFundMe page to help pay for Mr Cooke’s funeral and to support his family.
The page has already raised over £5,500, which Louise says is due to him being a ‘social butterfly’ who everyone loves.
She added: ‘When the doctors said he wasn’t going to survive this he was very upset and almost catatonic at the time. Now he is trying to be positive and extend his life for as long as he can.
‘He is a strong man. We just want the world for him. He just wants his partner not to have to worry about money. This is all very sudden. He just wants to look after his family.
‘We started a GoFundMe page and within the first three days we got £5,000 which was amazing. He obviously never anticipated having to plan his own funeral.’
Mr Cooke’s loved ones are now trying to encourage others to get their aches checked out, stressing that this can happen to anyone.
Mrs Cooke, who is a full-time carer, said: ‘He wants builders especially to be more aware. He worked as a builder for years and they are used to having injuries and back pain. They need to stop ignoring it and get checked out.’
Mr Cooke hard at work as a plasterer
Louise added: ‘It can happen to anybody. If you have an ache, even if you are fit and well, don’t ignore it. Always get checked out.’
Dubbed the ‘silent killer’ due to its subtle symptoms, pancreatic cancer kills around 100,000 people in the UK every year.
This is the equivalent to one death every hour, with pancreatic cancer believed to be one of 14 cancers on the rise.
The pancreas is aids digestion and produces hormones, such as insulin and glucagon, which help convert sugar from food into energy.
Pancreatic cancer can inhibit the gland from making enough of these hormones—which can lead to unstable blood sugar levels.
According to the NHS, symptoms of indigestion, such as feeling bloated, are also warning sign a red flag.
Other common symptoms of the deadly cancer include loss of appetite, fatigue, a high temperature, feeling or being sick, and diarrhoea or constipation.
Research published last year suggested that more than half of patients diagnosed with the six ‘least curable’ cancers—including lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, stomach and pancreatic cancers—die within a year of their diagnosis.
Pancreatic cancer has been dubbed a ‘silent killer’ due to its subtle signs that are often only spotted too late
More than 90,000 people are diagnosed with one of these deadly cancers in the UK every year, accounting for nearly half of all common cancer deaths, according to Cancer Research UK.
Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer in the UK each year, and more than half of patients will die within three months of diagnosis. Less than eleven per cent live for five years.
There are currently no early detection tests and approximately 80 per cent of people are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread, meaning life-saving treatment is no longer possible.
