A much-loved dad died of cancer after he put off going to the doctor to investigate a spot his wife found on his back.
Paul Manchester, 56, died three years after he was diagnosed with a rare and serious form of skin cancer.
His wife Kath had noticed a spot on his back, but it took her husband "a little while" before he went to have it checked out with a doctor, reports The Liverpool Echo.
Paul, an accountant from Ormskirk in Lancashire, was given an initial diagnosis in December 2018, before further tests showed the cancer had spread to his lungs and liver.
It later progressed from stage two melanoma to stage four.
After two years of chemotherapy and immunotherapy at a centre in St Helen's, it was discovered last August the cancer had spread to Paul's brain and in January of this year he died at home surrounded by family.
His wife Kath, 55, with whom he shared children, Cora, 22 and Patrick, 19, said Paul was "scared" of the treatment he would have to go through.
She also called her husband a "character" who "always made people smile".
She said: "It took Paul a little while to go to the doctor's with his spot, particularly a spot he couldn’t see it himself, but he went and when they said it was cancer he was scared, we all were.
"He was particularly scared of the treatment making him unable to work. He loved working.
"He was very clever. When they told us it was already quite progressed, we were also going through my Dad dying of lymphoma in June 2019 so it was such a lot for us to deal with all at once.
"Paul was one of those people who just made you laugh. He was a character and always made people smile and we miss him dreadfully.
"It has been six months now but it’s still hard for all of us. I am so thankful for the three years we got with him after he was diagnosed, and for the wonderful oncology team who helped make that happen.
"For the most part he was well, the treatment worked, and he had a good quality of life. Lots of people didn’t even know he was ill at all, and he was still working right up until last August.
"We had some lovely family times together as well; we went on several holidays and spent more time at home all together during lockdown which I’m so grateful for.
"Patrick says that Dad wasn’t Dad after our last family holiday to Aviemore in Scotland last summer which turned into the holiday from hell when Paul started having seizures.
"He was rushed to Inverness hospital and we were told the cancer had spread to his brain.
"On our return Paul was referred to the new Liverpool Cancer Centre and underwent whole brain radiotherapy treatment at the Clatterbridge Centre, at Aintree Hospital, followed by further immunotherapy.
"He then had one last Christmas and thankfully by then he was well enough to enjoy it but sadly he just went downhill after that.”
Kath, Cora and Patrick will be honouring Paul's memory at a special event later this year. On Friday, September 9, they will be joined by friends and family members at the Liverpool Shine event to raise money for Cancer Research UK which gave Paul "those extra few years" with his family.
Kath said: “The event will hopefully be something for us to focus on and something fun for us to do together as a family. It’s thanks to research and break-throughs in new treatments that we had those extra few years with Paul.
"So many people are affected by cancer so we want to raise money in the hope of even more treatments in the future. Everyone can take part at their own pace, it doesn’t matter how fast you go. The most important thing is raising money.”
To find out more about the event visit shinewalk.org.
