A father from Merseyside has been told he has just months to live after what he thought was an insect bite turned out to be skin cancer.
Chris Capstick, 41, from Bromborough, first noticed the mark on his back at his wedding in Greece in 2022. Over the next six months, the mark changed colour and grew, but doctors repeatedly told him it was a cyst.
Diagnosis and treatment
In February 2023, the cyst was removed at his GP surgery. Testing revealed it was stage four melanoma, a form of skin cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Chris was given a 15% chance of survival.
He had his lymph nodes removed and spent 13 months on immunotherapy. By early 2025, he was briefly cancer-free, but six months later, six tumours were found on his brain and six more in his body. His cancer was declared terminal.
Fighting for time
Chris was told he had 10 to 12 months to live. He has tried red light therapy and oxygen therapy, and is currently dealing with side effects from treatment, including high liver enzymes.
Just over a year after his terminal diagnosis, five of the six brain tumours have disappeared. He says: "Something's working, hopefully. At the moment I haven't got a prognosis of how long I can live."
Daughter's legacy
His daughter Isabella, six, has written a children's book, Daddy's Little Monsters, to help other children understand a parent's serious illness. Over £630 has been raised to print and distribute the book to cancer centres, hospices and Maggie's Centres across the UK.
Chris says: "It would mean everything (to have the book across the UK). It's my legacy in a way."
