An England man has been told he’s infertile due to treatment for bowel cancer – but by a accident his wife is pregnant with their ‘miracle’ child while he was only a few months old.
Andrew Wresford, 37, was diagnosed with the disease in February 2022, but after undergoing chemotherapy, doctors told him he was infertile.
So when his wife, 36-year-old Rachel Mitton, came upon in January that she was pregnant, they were each shocked – but the couple had all the time dreamed of having a baby together before he got sick.
“Me and Andrew wanted one other baby so this was going to be our little light at the hours of darkness,” Mitton said, according to the South West News Service.
“While I am heartbroken that I will have to raise our kids without my rock and best friend, this baby signifies that one other a part of Andrew will all the time be with me – a true gift.”
Mitton is due in September, but Wresford, now a father of 4, fears he may not live long enough to meet his newborn baby.
“I’m afraid of how Rachel will manage without me, but I’m excited that we’re going to have one other baby,” said Wresford.
“I’m also touched that I won’t be around to meet my son.”
When the 37-year-old was first diagnosed with bowel cancer via colonoscopy, his family believed he would survive – but it was later revealed that it had spread to his liver and lungs and was fatal, according to SWNS.
The disease can be treated if detected early enough.
A few of his first symptoms included terrible stomach pains and gas, prompting him to visit the doctor’s office.
Over 2,600 cases of the disease are diagnosed in people under 50 within the UK annually, and 1 in 15 men will be diagnosed with it of their lifetime. Bowel cancer within the UK.
An estimated 106,970 people in the US will be diagnosed with a kind of colon cancer. American Cancer Society. And for the reason that mid-Nineties, the speed of colon cancer has been increasing by 1-2% per 12 months in people under 50 years of age.
At first, doctors believed that despite being a fatal diagnosis, Wresford would be able to live for several years with treatment.
But his condition modified earlier this 12 months when doctors realized he only had a few months left.
“He has modified dramatically physically,” Wresford’s sister Jackie Hamilton told SWNS. “I was heartbroken when I got here here.”
Hamilton, who lives in Australia, got here to England to be together with her brother and support the family.
“Once he got to the subsequent level, he couldn’t even talk to me,” admitted Hamilton. “He sleeps a lot and eats little.”
He recently spoke along with his medical team about buying himself more time with one other course of chemotherapy, but ultimately decided not to go ahead, citing quality of life concerns.
“They said if he had chemo again it was now or never but they couldn’t guarantee it could make him higher,” his sister explained.
“It’s upsetting for the entire family, but we do not undergo it, it is not our body.”
Hamilton described the upcoming arrival of her latest niece or nephew as “bittersweet”.
“[I have] mixed feelings,” said Hamilton. “He won’t ever know his dad and my brother may not be able to see his baby born in September.”
“[But] it’s wonderful that Rachel has one other a part of him in her.”
Currently, Hamilton can be raising money for his brother’s family and latest baby on GoFundMe.
The family wants to raise a total of about $6,000 and have just over half the goal already.
His wife said that while all of them face a difficult journey, the lifetime of the brand new baby is cause for celebration.
Even in sad circumstances, “life should all the time be celebrated and I know this little boy will bring everyone some much-needed love and joy, even in the toughest of times,” she said.