A Co Tyrone family has put out a desperate plea to help a man in his 30s who has been diagnosed with an aggressive tumour on his brain.
Cormac McLaughlin, 38, received the devastating diagnosis a year ago while he was working as a primary school teacher in Hong Kong.
The Castlederg native first complained to family of blurred vision and slurred speech last year, and after an MRI scan their worst fears were confirmed.
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Due to the position on the tumour on Cormac's brain, doctors would not be able to operate on the affected area.
Cormac had been engaged to get married to now wife Krystal, and the two tied the knot just a day before Cormac flew home to have his diagnosis confirmed by doctors here.
Now Cormac's brother Darragh is leading a campaign to raise €250,000 to be able to send Cormac for specialised treatment in the US.
Speaking to MyTyrone, Darragh said the family are willing to try anything to keep Cormac alive.
"Cormac would have always been a very laid back, easy going fella. I don't think he's ever been in an argument in his life," Darragh said.
"He spent a few years teaching in Rome and he just loved it, himself and a friend were instrumental in setting up the local GAA club there.
"He went off to Hong Kong then in 2016 and got a very good job, and that's where he met Krystal his now wife.
"They got engaged at Christmas time just before the pandemic, they were due to get married in Rome in July 2020 but then the pandemic came.
"By Christmas 2020 Cormac started to get blurry vision and a wee bit of a slur in his speech.
"We initially thought it might be MS, but after further investigation over in Hong Kong they said they thought it was a brain tumour.
"At that point I just said to Cormac to come home and we would figure it out.
"I went on my birthday last year and picked him up from the airport and took him straight down the road to Altnagelvin.
"They confirmed what the circumstances were and over the the course of the next few months we had great assistance from a team up in Belfast.
"Unfortunately it's a very aggressive tumour and where it is means they can't operate on it.
"So it's about trying to manage it and fight it back and find alternative ways of trying to stop it from affecting day to day life.
"The care that he has got at home has been absolutely first class but we're just looking at any avenue at this stage.
"We'd try anything to find out if it works and see if he can react well to it."
The family has researched a number of different specialised treatments and new trials which may be able to help prolong Cormac's life.
The campaign has raised more than €43,000 in its first day.
Darragh added: "There are a couple of different options that we are going to look at but one of them is over in Texas and we are very hopeful that we can get over there in the next couple of weeks.
"It's unbelievable really the reaction to it over the last 24 hours, that in itself is able to give us a platform to go over and have him assessed there.
"At that stage they can see if he is suitable to be a candidate for one of the pioneering trials.
His brother said Cormac has taken the whole thing in his stride and is determined to fight against the illness.
"Cormac was 37 when he got the diagnosis and is now 38. He was supposed to get married in July 2020 but then put it back to July 2021.
"He got the diagnosis on Holy Thursday last year, Good Friday he booked his flight home from Hong Kong and himself and Crystal got married on the Saturday.
"He flew home then on Easter Sunday and was in hospital on the Tuesday. It was a real whirlwind of emotions.
"He has taken it with great dignity. It's not that common these days but Cormac has great faith.
"I remember when the doctor said to him that they couldn't operate on it, his response was that he was just going to have to live with it.
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"That was a different way of looking at the information he was being told. He does have bad days but on the whole he is extremely positive considering the news that he has got.
“For Cormac he has had to deal not only with everything he’s going through, but then that human part he is missing now as well.
“The first year of your marriage should be one of the happiest times of your life.
“For somebody who’s had such a degree of bad news not to be able to get a hug from his wife hasn’t been easy.”
Darragh says the family has been inundated with messages and offers to host fundraising events, and thanked everyone who has supported them so far.
"We've received so many offers by message and email in the last 24 hours from Cormac' peers, football teammates, people he went to school with, people he worked with.
"People are just so kind, I don't really know what to even say about it at this stage.
"Some of the kindness would just knock you off your feet, with everything that is going on at the minute with the price of things, yet they are digging deep and putting their hand in their pocket to help out Cormac.
"It just does the heart good."
If you would like to donate to the fundraising campaign for Cormac's treatment, you can find out more information at this link.
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