Please help the Harrops fight Stage 4 cancer.

Hello. Our names are Heather and Alice and we are fundraising for our brother-in-law, Kieron. We appreciate you taking the time to read his story about the recent devastating diagnosis of advanced melanoma that he is facing.

Some words from our sister, Meg:

In August (2023) our world was completely turned upside down.

After nearly a month of being in pain, I took Kieron to A&E because his condition was worsening. After finally undergoing CT and MRI scans, we were told that he has advanced cancer with tumours on and near multiple major organs.

In 2021, Kieron had Melanoma on his skin removed from his chest and back with surgery. He also had lymph nodes removed to see if the cancer had progressed.

Some types of skin cancer grow down into the deeper layers of skin, reach the lymphatic system and are then able to travel throughout the entire body forming tumours in multiple places at once. Melanoma is one of the most dangerous forms of cancer because it does exactly that and sometimes it happens very quickly.

After lymph node removal in 2021, we were told Kieron was ‘all clear’.

We carried on with our lives, relieved. We put plans in motion for our future, Kieron started his own business and we tried to grow our family (but sadly miscarried at 12 weeks).

Kieron kept up with regular skin checks with a dermatologist to check for more Melanoma skin lesions. That was the extent of the follow up.

In hindsight, Kieron should have had regular CT scans but we followed guidance from the NHS and were told the regular skin exams were enough. Routine CT scans would likely have picked up the Melanoma spreading internally much sooner.

Back to today. After more biopsies and scans we now have a complete picture. We’re left with the reality that Kieron has Stage 4 Melanoma that has spread (metastasised) to his brain as well as multiple major organs. He is in pain daily and is unable to do many of the things a 37 year old man should be able to do: play with his 3-year-old son; work on his dream property development business; drive a car; walk for more than 15 minutes and spend time in the great outdoors.

Stage 4 Melanoma that has metastasised is considered a ‘terminal’ diagnosis because it cannot be definitively cured. He was given an initial prognosis of 3-6 months without treatment.

Even if the current treatment is successful, there is always the risk that the cancer will become resistant to treatment, will regrow or that the treatment simply won’t work.

We are absolutely devastated with, and traumatised by, this new reality that we are facing.

Kieron has started a combination of immunotherapy drugs which is the only treatment available on the NHS for his type of cancer. Immunotherapy uses the body's own immune system to target and kill the cancer - it’s a massive development in cancer treatment but it does not work for everyone. It also comes with a high risk of dangerous side effects like autoimmune conditions.

Kieron dealt with an autoimmune disease called Ulcerative Colitis when he was younger and had his entire colon removed. Immunotherapy may well bring up some more autoimmune challenges. In fact, after his very first immunotherapy treatment he was hospitalised for a week unable to eat or drink and needed fluids, pain relief, and steroids to calm the inflammation in his body.

Immunotherapy is given for up to 2 years, or until the body cannot tolerate it anymore. We are facing the added grief that we cannot continue to grow our family at this time as the effects of the treatment on fertility are not fully known and the future is very uncertain.

It feels like as well as Kieron's life being in jeopardy, all of our dreams are being taken away too.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts in advance for any help that you can offer at this difficult time.

Why are we fundraising?

Because of the high chance that immunotherapy either doesn’t work, or causes side effects that mean it can’t continue, we would like to look at other options that are not yet available on the NHS and layer up natural/complementary therapies to try to mitigate side effects.

There are emerging forms of immunotherapy that are available at some private hospitals and in other countries but they can cost anywhere between £30k - £100k+. There are lots of promising results from these newer therapies that offer fewer side effects and may mean that we’ll be together as a family for much longer.

More research is needed on our part to find a course of action but we would like to do whatever we can to make Kieron's future look somewhat brighter than it does at present.

We kindly ask for your support today to help Kieron to fight advanced cancer. Any amount that you are able to contribute is greatly appreciated and if you are unable to donate, a share with your friends and family would mean the world to us at this time. You will be making an incredible difference and hopefully helping Kieron to have as much time as possible with his treasured son and the rest of his family.