A Co Antrim man is on a fundraising mission to raise £39,000 to fund his life-saving cancer operation.
Aidan O'Neill from Crumlin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2022 and was told it was inoperable.
He underwent 12 rounds of the most grueling chemotherapy over a seven month period in the hope of prolonging his life and responded exceptionally well to the treatment with his tumour shrinking from 4cm to being barely noticeable on his scans.
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While the only cure for pancreatic cancer is an operation, Aidan was still inoperable.
Days later, he came across an article published by Belfast Live which detailed how a Belfast woman had been in the same situation and discovered SABR treatment being administered by Dr James Good, Clinical Director of Stereotactic Radiotherapy at GenesisCare in Oxford which had reduced her tumour so that it was operable.
With the help of his fellow coach Shauna Gibson and the team at Crumlin based running group RunAnon, Aidan raised over £30,000 to fund his treatment and it was a success.
"I was in Oxford for four weeks undergoing the SABR treatment and my most recent PET scan has shown that there is no active cancer however the tumour is still there and unless I get this operation, there is the possibility it will come back," he said.
"Dr Charles Imber at the Cleveland Clinic in London was part of the multidisciplinary team which had been looking at the SABR treatment in the hope it would reduce it enough so that I could undergo a surgery called Appleby Procedure.
"Appleby procedure isn't offered in Northern Ireland because we don't have the skillset but we know because of my PET scan that my cancer is metabolically inactive which makes me an ideal candidate for it."
To help raise money for the surgery, 58 runners will be taking to the Belfast City Marathon course with ten relay teams and 8 full course runners.
Shauna Gibson from RunAnon explained that they are always fundraising for charity, but Aidan's case makes them more determined to raise the money.
"We have some people who are running the Belfast Marathon for the first time and also some of the team who have never ran a marathon before and they are participating in the relay.
"Myself, Aidan and our other coach Patricia O'Donnell have ran the marathon for charity every year for the last eight years and have raised over £35,000 for a range of charities.
"This time we are bringing it closer to home and raising the money for Aidan."
Aidan said that running has kept him going through his treatment.
"I have had a really tough year and a half with the chemo. I would have got my chemo on a Thursday, went home and had a sleep then Shauna would have come round and picked me up to take me to training.
"I have been running since I was about 18 and have run marathons all over the world.
"Running has got me out of bed every day. I am taking about 50 tablets a day, I always have pain in my back but I still get up and run.
"My joints seize up as a side effect of the chemo but when I run, I feel a lot better.
"My surgeon is a runner himself, and we have said that maybe next year we will run the London Marathon together for Pancreatic Cancer."
In addition to this treatment, Aidan has also attended the Care Oncology Clinic in London where his cancer was treated metabolically which isn't available on the NHS. This treatment involved starving the cancer cells with medication to block the fuel lines.
Aidan believes that he has also been helped by using essential oils, sticking to a juicing programme which he came across in a book by Jane McLelland and meditation.
"We are so grateful for the help that we have had so far and the running community have been incredibly generous. The money raised as been a testament to how generous the people of Northern Ireland are when it comes to helping people in need and I just so grateful to anyone who has helped me so far," he said.
"I am a determined wee man and hopefully we raise the money to cover the surgery."
To donate to Aidan's GoFundMe campaign click here.
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