A dad-of-three has sadly lost his life after a brave battle with terminal brain cancer.
Richard Caink discovered he had two cancerous brain tumours after he suffered four seizures while at work. The 59-year-old, from Ryton, Gateshead, underwent surgery to remove the tumours and began radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
During the treatment, his health deteriorated and medics discovered his cancer had returned as a large tumour. Richard and his family decided not to continue with the treatment and he returned home under a palliative care package.
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Richard and his wife Ania, 50, who are parents to Tesni, 24, Cadan, 20, and Theo, 13, were told in March that he had weeks to live. However he lived six months longer than expected and got to spend one last summer with his beloved family.
Ania said he passed away on Sunday evening after being asleep, but conscious, for around a week. She said: "He was at home and he passed away very peacefully.
"Back in March he was only given a few weeks, maybe a month, and we managed to get another six months with him. We had a summer together making the most of being outdoors in the fresh air.
"We got out to the Sage where we saw live music, we had a little holiday on the Norfolk Broads and we had two family reunions. He celebrated his 59th birthday in July with a barbecue at home and we invited friends around. We did everything we could to enjoy life.
"Tesni, Cadan and Theo are clearly devastated about losing their dad too early but they knew that he loved them and they loved him."
Richard worked as an arboriculturist and ran his own business, Wholetree Ltd., for 15 years. He began suffering from seizures while he was working alone in October last year and was unable to recall what had happened to him. Around the same time, he also became concerned about not being able to find the word which he wanted to say.
He visited the A&E department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead after a colleague witnessed him collapse to the floor during his fourth seizure in December last year. Richard underwent an MRI scan and a CT scan which revealed two small tumours on the left side of his brain.
On January 14 this year, he underwent surgery at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle to remove the tumours. On January 22, Richard and his family were given the devastating news that he had Glioblastoma - grade 4 brain cancer.
Richard began radiotherapy sessions and he was also given chemotherapy tablets. After eight out of the 30 treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Richard developed severe speech impairment and mobility loss.
Sadly, the cancer returned as a large tumour and there was evidence of growth across a much larger area. Richard was told the only way they could give him radiotherapy was across the whole brain area.
The family weighed up Richard's quality of life against the possibility of him having further treatment. They agreed he was better off receiving palliative care at home His family plan to keep his legacy going by continuing to run the tree surgery and garden services business.
Ania, who works as a horticulturalist, describes her husband as being kind, generous and modest. She said: "He was definitely funny and silly. He was young at heart. He was creative and he was adventurous.
""He chose not to have chemotherapy so he knew that he ultimately wasn't going to survive it. but he chose how he was going to live the last bits of his life. He didn't want to be ill with the chemo. He wanted to be able to enjoy his time with his family and that what we intended to do. For the most part of that time he was pretty well and near the end he deteriorated again.
"He was definitely grieving in himself in the knowledge that he was coming to the end of his life and he wasn't going to be around to see our children grow up and be successful in his own right. He was ready to go when the time came.
"In terms of the last few months of Richard's life what I will always remember was how amazing his family and friends have been and how loved Richard was. He had a lot of support in the community."
Richard's funeral will take place at 2pm on Friday, October 21 at Belsay Woodland Burials in Belsay, Northumberland. His wake will be held at Ye Olde Cross pub in Ryton from 4pm. Anybody is welcome to attend.
Ania said: "He was involved in the planning of it. It's all be done to his wishes. For anyone wanting to pay their last respects to Richard they are welcome to attend his funeral.
"And to give Richard the final word, 'Hug your loved ones'."
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