A devoted dad-of-two died aged 35 from a rare form of cancer just six days after getting married. Chris McGinnis tied the knot with his beloved partner, Mel, on May 4 months after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer.
Tributes are now being paid to 'just the funniest, nicest guy, ever'.
Chris was diagnosed with Metastasis Cholangiocarcinoma in early February. The shock diagnosis followed him suffering from symptoms including tiredness and a loss of appetite, together with a dull ache in his lower back.
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Doctors went on to discover a number of tumours in the electrician's liver, which were sadly deemed to be inoperable.
Chris' diagnosis was terminal, but doctors initially wanted to try and give him chemotherapy in an attempt to help the dad live for another year. Sadly side effects of the treatment blunted any benefits and it was decided Chris would discontinue chemotherapy.
By March Chris, from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, was only given a matter of months to live, but survived long enough to marry Mel and spend more time with his cherished daughters Onora and Nuala, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Natasha Walker, a friend of Chris and Mel's for around 12 years, said: "He was just the funniest, nicest guy, ever. He doted on Mel and the girls and everything was about providing for them and taking care of them. He worked so hard for them. This has come completely out of the blue. The family are devastated.
"Onora is coming up to four, she was a daddy's girl through and through, and she's finding it difficult. She keeps saying things that are breaking everyone's hearts.”
Chris made sure he enjoyed life with Mel, 29, and their children, following his diagnosis but he struggled to keep active and spent a lot of time on the sofa.
"He pulled the energy out of, I have no idea where, for that day [their wedding day]. After that, it was a very quick decline," Natasha said.
Now, a GoFundMe has been started in memory of Chris to help his two young girls. Natasha said: "It would be nice for the girls to have something in his memory. It's not just having the unexpected costs of the funeral.
"It's really to raise as much as possible to leave the girls a trust fund in their daddy's name because that's all he would have wanted, he would have wanted them to have been taken care of for the future, and to have that time to grieve. We want there to be something there for the girls in the future. As a friendship group, we all feel very helpless. It's good for our focus to be on helping to raise funds for them as much as we can."
Chris' loved ones also want to encourage others to get regular health check-ups. While they say it is difficult to know whether he would still be here if the cancer had been caught sooner, his family and friends are now encouraging others to not ignore any symptoms.
Natasha said: "Don't ignore the smallest thing [health problems] just make sure you got to get checked out and appreciate the time you have with family and friends because in a couple of months, it's completely changed a family's life.
"If you're feeling unwell in any way, go get checked out. Chris was healthy and was really young and in a matter of months, he's not here."
The Chris McGinnis Memorial Fund has raised more than £6,000 since it was created on May 14. You can donate to the fundraiser here.
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