A family is locked in a race against time after their "happy go lucky" dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dave Armstrong, 40, was told he had just six to 12 months to live 10 months ago.
But the dad-of-two is not ready to say goodbye to his family, his wife Samantha and two young children, five-year-old Freddy and one-year-old Leo.
A Devastating Diagnosis
Samantha, 38, said: "It's a really aggressive kind of cancer Dave has. I'm not under any illusions that we will be able to cure it. When you're stage 4 and the spread is this advanced, there are very limited options. We would love to think that one day he will be cured. But realistically we're just trying to get as much time as we can with him."
"It's so difficult to put into words. It's not something you ever expect, especially when you have young kids. It has been hard watching someone that you love go through this."
Dave, from Allerton, began having symptoms similar to acid reflux shortly after the birth of their second child, Leo. He was prescribed antacids, and at first this seemed to solve the problem. But in August last year, his symptoms returned worse than ever.
The Road to Diagnosis
Samantha said: "He started losing weight, but he thought it was because he wasn't eating as much because of the pain. It got to the point that he couldn't actually swallow."
"He went back and forth with the doctors for a couple of months; they did a few tests and bloodwork and everything was coming back normal. They thought it might be a stomach ulcer and sent him for an endoscopy. As soon as he went in for the endoscopy, they could see the tumour straight away."
Dave was sent for an urgent scan which found stage 3 cancer in his oesophagus, and further spots in his liver, lymph nodes and lungs. On December 22 2025, the day before his son Freddy's fifth birthday, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 oesophageal cancer and given a prognosis of six to 12 months.
Making Memories
Samantha said: "It was a complete shock. It was just not what we were expecting at all. In hindsight, looking at the symptoms, we probably should have suspected it."
"Dave has his ups and downs. We're having a lot of very difficult conversations about leaving messages for the boys. It's hard thinking he won't be there to see their 18th birthdays or even Leo's first day of school."
"It's so sad that they won't have their dad there when they need him. He's keen to try and make memories with them that they will have forever. Our youngest is only one and he won't remember anything for a while. So we want to give Dave the best chance he can, anything to give us more time with him."
Fundraising for Treatment
Dave began chemotherapy and immunotherapy after being diagnosed, and initially responded well, recovering his ability to eat and drink and regaining the weight he had lost.
Sadly, his most recent scan brought the devastating news the cancer is growing again, and has spread to his lungs and further lymph nodes. In an effort to prolong his life, Dave's family started fund-raising for Ramucirumab, a drug which can improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. The drug is not available on the NHS, meaning they must raise £4,000-£5,000 for each infusion, which must be administered every two weeks.
They are also hoping to enrol him on clinical trials, including genetic panel testing in London. Samantha said: "We want to rally behind Dave and show him how much we care. Dave is such a happy go lucky person, he's 6ft 4in and I always called him a jolly giant because he's always smiling. He's a great dad to the boys and constantly playing with them and they love him to bits. Everyone who knows him knows he always has a smile on his face. He just doesn't want to upset anyone."
