It took several visits to the doctors to find out what was causing Tom Hayman’s stomach pains
An update has been issued on a dad who was given devastating news after having “stomach aches”. Tom Hayman, 28, is described by his fiancée Mary Cooper as the “kindest, most generous man you’ll ever meet”.
The engaged couple have a son together, Ronnie, who is four-years-old. However, Tom wasn’t feeling himself around the summer of 2024 and couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something serious. Speaking to the ECHO back in February, Mary, 28, said Tom was struggling to eat and feeling lethargic from the summer of 2024 onwards.
She added that, from January to May 2025, Tom went to the doctors seven times but it was not thought his symptoms were something to be concerned about. After more concerns were raised by the couple, they said the doctor made a referral for an ultrasound scan.
After scans in their local Warrington hospital were inconclusive, they were sent for one in London. It was here Tom was told he had a rare form of cancer called a neuroendocrine tumour, which had started in his pancreas and spread to his liver.
Neuroendocrine cancers are rare, often slow-growing tumours that start in specialised neuroendocrine (hormone producing) cells. They can develop anywhere, but are most commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract or lungs
According to Cancer Research UK, Neuroendocrine cancer is less common than some other types of cancer, and there are many different types, so survival is harder to estimate than for other, more common cancers.
Tom was later told his condition can’t be cured. This news came as a massive shock and no-one can say how long Tom has left to live, with life expectancy varying widely with each case.
Mary said: “In England, we’ve basically been told, you’ve got as long as you’ve got. Does that mean three years or does it mean 30 years? Does it mean three months? They don’t know. It just makes me feel sick all the time because you just don’t know what’s happening at all.”
The family’s glimmer of hope came in the form of dendritic cell therapy, which is available in Germany. This is a form of immunotherapy that helps the body’s own immune system fight cancer, but the treatment is not available in the UK.
Dendritic cells are special cells which spot dangers in the body and alert the immune system. The aim is to stop progression, stop the spread and even reduce the size of Tom’s tumours.
The family were aiming to raise £50,000 to pay for this treatment, which included the cost of medical fees, travel, accommodation and time away from work. This week, that milestone was reached and Mary is still overwhelmed by people support.
Mary said: “I honestly was speechless (when we reached it) and I’m never speechless. 10 weeks is all it took. We were both just absolutely over the moon just really proud of ourselves as well for being able to do it.”
Friends, family and the wider community got together to organise a skydive, a tabletop sale, a DJ night and several other fundraising events.
Mary said: “The support’s been crazy. Everyone came together. We’ve all got so much closer during this whole fundraising journey.”
The prospect of new treatment has given the family a ray of hope after all the challenges they have faced. Mary said: ”The idea of the immunotherapy is to hopefully have some shrinkage (of the tumour), but also to give us (more of an idea) about the amount of time, knowing that there’s going be no tumour growth.
“The idea is that it makes the tumours go dormant. It stops them from really going anywhere, doing anything. No-one knows how long it would work for.
“But it gives us that peace of mind that he’s had that immunotherapy and if any of the tumours try to grow or divide, his own immune system will just fight it off.
“It is really important, especially for his mental health as well, knowing he’s had that extra bit of treatment on top. Hopefully it’ll give him more peace of mind about where he is in his condition.
“It’s just really sad that these different types of treatment aren’t available in the UK because this type of cancer is so underfunded. If more research and funding went into it, we might not have had raised the £50,000.”
The plan is to go to Germany in May for treatment. Mary said: “Hopefully at the end of May we’ll be able to get it booked in and go, so we’ll be there for about 10 days and we are taking our little boy Ronnie with us as well and maybe do a bit of sightseeing while we’re there because I can’t leave Ronnie for 10 days, it’s too long.”
Mary has left the donation page open in case anyone wants to put money towards booster immunotherapy jabs, although they were not actively fundraising for this yet.
She continued: “We obviously appreciate all the help because Tom’s had to reduce his hours at work. It is difficult, but we’re just dead grateful for everybody for sharing it and donating. It’s been really overwhelming, but lovely at the same time.”
You can find out more about the fundraiser here. Mary has also been documenting their epxereince with the condtion online. You can find out more by searching for @marycooper98_ on TikTok.
