A CARLISLE man is set to marry his partner of 13 years after a ‘gut-wrenching’ terminal cancer diagnosis.

Kevin McCullock, 36, has been battling cancer for more than 12 months but has recently been given the news that he may only have as little as two months left to live.

Following this ‘heartbreaking’ news, Kevin and his long-term partner, Suzanne Malin, are getting married on Saturday (November 30) in a ceremony attended by their close family and friends.

Kevin was only diagnosed with cancer early in 2024 and began chemotherapy in April after initially going to the doctor with acid reflux.

“By October time I stopped eating certain foods that made it worse but by Christmas I was struggling to swallow certain foods, still battling with acid reflux and struggling to swallow,” said Kevin.

“While I was away in the wagon I was living off noodles and soups because they all went down but on February 7, I made the call to my boss to say I hadn’t managed any food all week and was struggling to get water down. He immediately told me to come back to the yard and seek medical advice.

“The problem was I didn’t fall into the age gap for oesophagus cancer as I was too young, therefore I'd never been offered an endoscopy.

“After a 30-hour wait in A&E, I had my endoscopy, and they confirmed that there was a tumour in the oesophagus but couldn’t guarantee it was cancerous.

“I then got taken for a CT scan where it was confirmed to be a cancerous tumour, and I would need to be fitted with a feeding tube and the biopsy that had taken would be sent to the RVI in Newcastle.

“I had a couple of weeks in Carlisle hospital on the feeding tube before being moved to the RVI Newcastle where they did some more tests on me and started the chemotherapy stage on my biopsy.

“Once I finished my chemotherapy, I still couldn’t eat so I had four rounds of radiotherapy to try open the oesophagus enough to start eating.

“I was really ill from the radiotherapy and just never got better.

“My consultant put me in for another CT scan on November 11. We got the results on Suzanne’s birthday on November 13 where I was told the cancer had spread aggressively all over my torso.

"We were no longer looking at the 20 or 30 years I was meant to get, but it was looking more like months of life left.

“I’ve accepted another round of chemotherapy but this time I will get really ill with the side effects of the drug.

“Without the chemotherapy I’d be lucky to see Christmas and with the chemotherapy I’ll get into the new year, but no promises how far.

“I understand I now will not see my kids grow up; I won’t grow old with my childhood sweetheart, so I need this Christmas to count.

 “I need this to be the most perfect Christmas for Suzanne, and my kids Maisy and Freddy, because I know it’s the last one, I will get with them.

“I’m lucky enough not to start my chemotherapy until December 2, giving me just enough time to finally marry Suzanne after the 13-plus years we have been together.

“We were a couple at school, and I knew one day I would marry her, I just didn’t realise how long it would take me.

“I just need to be here for Christmas - that’s all I pray for, morning, noon and night.”

To cover the costs of Kevin and Suzanne’s wedding, Kevin’s funeral and to help the family through this difficult time, close family friend Chris Hughes has launched a GoFundMe page.

More than £5,000 has been raised ahead of the wedding on November 30.

“Kev is a very proud man, and I don't think it's something that he would have thought of doing himself because he probably doesn't want to feel as a bit of a charity case,” said Chris.

“This enables him to leave something behind for his kids, just a little bit of something behind, and he's getting married on Saturday so a bit of money can go towards that, because that’s been rushed through before things get worse.

"Then there's the unexpected cost of the funeral that you should never have to plan for at that age.

“Suzanne's being a bit of a warrior, obviously, because she's got the kids, she can’t be just upset all the time, but Kev seems to have come to terms with it because when you're talking to him and he's talking about his funeral and things, it's like he's planning a birthday party.

“It's such a strange conversation to have but it must be his way of dealing with it.”

The wedding is set to be an emotional day as it may be one of the last opportunities Kevin has to spend time with friends and family who live further afield.

“It's quite a hard one to understand whether they are looking forward to it or not,” said Chris.

“We're trying our hardest obviously to make sure that it's still a celebration but it's obviously going to be a sombre one, because there's going to be people who, when the wedding's over, may not get to see him again, which is tragic.”

Anybody wishing to donate to Kevin’s family can do so via his GoFundMe page.