The family of a dad who died just days after his 40th birthday have pledged to keep his memory alive.
With a family history of bowel cancer, Darren Mason and his siblings were tested for the Familial Adenomatous Polyposis gene (FAP) which means genetic mutations can occur spontaneously. From a young age, it was confirmed Darren, from Earlestown, had inherited the gene and had to have regular check-ups, he even underwent bowel surgery to remove a "growth".
But just before Christmas last year, he went into hospital for pains in his leg, and was later diagnosed with bowel cancer. Sadly, this year he was told the cancer had spread to his lungs and he died on April 10, 2022 , just days after spending his 40th birthday in hospital.
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Brother Chris said the gene runs in the family and those that have it, are more susceptible to developing cancer. Darren's sister Jackie is also battling the disease. He told the ECHO : "We thought it could have been his hip but obviously we found out it was much worse than that.
"He went in with pains and ended up having chemotherapy for the cancer but unfortunately, it never shifted from his lungs. He spent his 40th in hospital but around a week later he sadly died."
Chris confirmed Darren's 11-year-old daughter, Zoya, also has the gene, as well as his sister who is also undergoing treatment for bowel cancer. So setting themselves an incredible challenge of completing the three Yorkshire peaks, the family said the charity, Bowel Cancer UK, holds a special place in their hearts.
He added: "Back in February we had a conversation that we wanted to give something back, my dad died from it and we lost our auntie and cousin as well so we just wanted to raise money and awareness. But then Darren died and me and my brother, Darren's twin, Andy, decided well we made that promise to Darren so we will keep it.
"We will do something and we will keep his memory alive. His daughter has the gene so we want to raise as much awareness and money as we can to help eradicate this horrible disease. But obviously we wanted to do something challenging."
On July 16, around 30 of Darren's friends and family came together to complete the gruelling challenge, and have so far raised a staggering £7,000 for the cause. Chris, who now lives in Runcorn, said: "It was absolutely horrendous but we got through it. We had an idea that if we could raise around £2,000 that would be great, because every little helps.
"But people have been so generous, especially in this day and age. Everyone kept donating. One thing we found was that everyone has some kind of connection to bowel cancer, but even people we don't know were donating. It was incredible.
"It does touch home unfortunately, it's a horrible disease and bowel cancer is the second biggest killer. The amount of support we have had for Darren's Champions has been incredible so a massive thank you to everyone.
"It's brought us even closer together and forced us to push on." The Darren's Champions fundraiser can be found by clicking here.
According to Bowel Cancer UK, your risk of bowel cancer is increased if you have a family history of the disease. The risk is also increased if family members have an inherited gene, one of which is FAP.
FAP is responsible for less than 1 in 100 cases of all bowel cancers and if left untreated, all individuals with this syndrome will almost certainly develop bowel cancer by their 40s. According to Macmillan, FAP causes hundreds or thousands of small growths in the large bowel and can affect other parts of the body.
Some symptoms of bowel cancer can include blood in your poo, a change to your normal bowel habits, a lump, losing weight, pain in your abdomen or cramps and bloating. More information can be found on the Bowel Cancer UK website.
