A man diagnosed with bile duct cancer has described how his “miracle” daughter helps him keep going despite his illness. Liam Bradley, 38, donated sperm for IVF just one hour before starting chemotherapy, after being warned the treatment was likely to leave him infertile.
Liam, a former supermarket area manager, began feeling unwell while playing golf with friends in March 2025. Within three days, he noticed a “slight yellow tinge” to his eyeballs and skin and went to A&E at Lincoln County Hospital.
Diagnosis and treatment
A CT scan revealed a stricture in Liam’s bile duct, which doctors initially did not believe to be cancerous. Surgeons fitted a stent, and Liam waited for follow-up surgery to remove the blockage. However, an MRI scan showed he had stage four cholangiocarcinoma, with 12 inoperable tumours that had spread to his liver.
Liam waited six “frustrating” weeks for chemotherapy, but the delay gave him time to arrange the sperm donation. He received a phone call confirming the appointment while on holiday in Rhodes.
Race against time
“It was the Nurture Fertility clinic in Nottingham saying that we could go ahead with IVF if I could get a sample to them before I started chemo,” Liam said. “The clinic staff were brilliant; they said they’d open at 8am for me on Monday. Thank goodness our Sunday night flight wasn’t delayed. I got there in time to give a sample and then rushed to Lincoln [Hospital] to start chemo an hour later.”
With partner Lois Rose, 30, the couple welcomed their daughter, Birdie, on July 15 this year. Lois described Birdie’s birth as “amazing” and said: “Birdie forces us to live and fight at the same time. She really is just the perfect baby. She sleeps six to seven hours at night, she’s breastfed perfectly from the beginning, and she’s really content.”
Living with cancer
Despite initially responding well to treatment, Liam suffered side effects from immunotherapy and was admitted to intensive care in May with an infection in his gallbladder. He has since started another round of chemotherapy due to further metastatic spread to his lung.
Liam is sharing his story for the charity AMMF’s Voices of Cholangiocarcinoma film, which was due to be screened to MPs and NHS leaders on Wednesday. He is also taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on 27 October to raise funds for AMMF.
“If I didn’t have Lois and Birdie, I think cancer would control my life,” Liam said. “I just want to give other people who are living with the same cancer hope. Being here for the birth and being here for three months old, it’s just a win. There’s so much that I want to live for.”
