Marathon runner Lee Rawlinson, 51, from Essex, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer on Halloween. “This will be my last Christmas,” he said. “I’m facing the jaws of death… But my fear isn’t death itself; it’s leaving my children and my wife behind.” The cancer had already spread to his liver, leaving him just months to live.

Lee first noticed a dull ache in his abdomen in January, but dismissed it as stress. Despite visiting his GP, he faced a 21-week wait for follow-up care. “I was taking painkillers daily… like someone was slowly pushing a scaffolding pole right through me,” he said. A CT scan finally revealed the cancer.

Lee now urges people to listen to their bodies. “I didn’t think much of it when the dull ache started,” he admitted. “But I wish I’d paid closer attention… Early diagnosis could make all the difference.”

He discovered his grandfather also had pancreatic cancer. “The consultant told me that it’s sometimes just your destiny.”
Determined to make “magical memories,” Lee surprised his kids with a trip to Lapland. “We need people to take notice so this disease doesn’t destroy more young families,” he said.