A dad whose stomach ache turned out to be stage four bowel cancer has died days after setting up a fundraiser to pay for his treatment.
Kyle Ingram-Baldwin, 40, from Minster, Kent, was diagnosed with stage-four bowel cancer after going to see his GP for a stomach ache.
He went through six rounds of chemo and another, more targeted course, but these were not able to get the disease, which spread to his liver, under control.
On June 8, he launched a GoFundMe as he was ‘wasn’t ready to give up’, and more than £15,000 was raised towards finding alternative treatments.
But Kyle’s wife, Becky, has now confirmed that he died on June 16.
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In an update on the fundraising page, she wrote: ‘Unfortunately, Kyle took a very sudden and unexpected turn and we lost him yesterday.
‘He was the most incredible man I have ever met, and I know he would want me to thank everyone for all your sharing and donations. I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you who donated to try and help Kyle. I’m so sorry we didn’t get to.’
He recently bravely spoke of his battle with cancer and how it had impacted his wife and children aged 12, nine, three and one.
He said: ‘It’s really hard to put into words, because I love my kids so much. You just worry about their future.
‘They’ve got the best mum in the world, and I genuinely mean that. My wife’s incredible.’
Today,Becky told donors they would all be receiving a refund, but after an ‘overwhelming’ number of messages, she set up a new fundraiser to support her and Kyle’s young children.
She added: ‘As we raised such an incredible amount from so many selfless people, I thought maybe (and it feels so weird and uncomfortable) if people wanted to, once they get refunded, they can gift money to our children.
‘I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but the amount of messages I’ve had is just overwhelming. If you want to give your donation to charity or just make memories with your families, that’s what you should do. It didn’t feel right for me to make that decision.’
Kyle’s ordeal began in October last year, when he sought his doctor’s advice after suffering from a stomach ache for a couple of weeks.
The dad-of-four had suspected his pain was stress-related, and expected the diagnosis to be gallstones. After his pain got worse, he went to A&E.
An ultrasound found bulges on his liver, and a CT scan followed, before a call into a room of doctors, where he was given the devastating diagnosis.
He said: ‘I was thinking, what’s going on here? What have I done wrong? I was putting the blame on my own feet and worrying about the future for my wife and kids.
‘That’s probably the hardest thing – the mental side. Don’t get me wrong, the physical is not funny either, but it’s a mental challenge.’
Before his death, he said he was ‘blown away’ by the huge sum raised by the fundraiser and said it had given him hope.
Kyle worked for Automatic Retailing, a wholesale supplier for vending machines, and helped run the Men’s Mental Health Support Talking Football project in Minster.
He wanted to encourage others to get checked out urgently if something doesn’t feel right.
He added: ‘I didn’t present with any of the conventional symptoms. If you think anything’s wrong, please press your GP and go get it checked, because I genuinely wouldn’t want anyone being in my position.’
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