A young dad has died days after being told he had a tumour pressing on his abdominal gland. Kieran Taylor, 32, was given the news on July 9.
Two days later, the dad of three felt unwell and was rushed to hospital. After returning home to Speke, Liverpool, he became confused before being found unresponsive in his garden. His wife, Donna, raced home and found neighbours giving him CPR.
Donna, 35, told the LiverpoolECHO: “The kids saw him lying there, but they thought he was sunbathing because that is what he always did. I had to stand to the side of Kieran and tell them to go straight in."
Kieran was put on life support in hospital, but the following day his liver and other organs began to fail. Donna was told by doctors that they could operate, but he would have little quality of life. And so the heartbreaking decision to withdraw life support was made.
Donna said: “He was too independent and he wouldn’t have wanted his kids to see him like that. The doctors came to the decision, after they asked us about what he was like as a person, to turn off the machines and see how he got on. He went as soon as they turned the machine off.”
Kieran would have turned 33 this week and, to celebrate, Donna and her children released balloons outside their home in memory of him. Kieran's tumour was caused by the genetic condition Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), which his daughter Willow and his son Blake both have.
She said: “The kids say, ‘every time we let a balloon off it goes to Daddy’. Willow tells people ‘Daddy is in heaven with the angels’. Blake has been a bit quiet. He has been on and off. I’ve just been trying to tell them that they can talk about their dad and if they get upset or miss their dad, it is OK to cry.”
Kieran was a carer for five-year-old Blake, who also suffers from sleep apnoea. He was a full-time dad, also looking after four-year-old Willow, who has a tumour behind her left eye. He also had a third child, Bobby, aged seven.
Donna added: “He just got on with everyone and was very loving. He was very independent he wouldn’t let anyone help him out. He liked to do it all himself. He was a brilliant father and a loving husband.”
Donna has had to give up her job as a cleaner and become a full-time carer. The family has launched a fundraiser to help pay for Kieran's funeral.
The fundraiser was organised by Donna’s sister-in-law Stephanie Jackson, who has helped support the family. Kieran's funeral will be held on July 27 at Anfield Cemetery and Crematorium.
