A father-of-two was delighted to lose over half his body weight only to be given the dreadful news that he had stomach cancer.
Train conductor Darryll Evans weighed 20 stone and was told by doctors that he needed to improve his health.
The 37-year-old lost his appetite during lockdown which led to an incredible weight loss of eleven stone.
He was over the moon as the pounds began dropping off, and was planning to take advantage of his new look by going travelling and indulging in a fresh wardrobe.
But then Darryll was told the sinister reason behind his change in appetite.
His ex-wife and best friend Katrina Lawson told LancsLive he was initially ‘chuffed’ by his slimmer frame.
"He kept telling me that he was going to need a new uniform because his old one didn't fit anymore,” she added.
"Everyone was complimenting him and telling him how much weight he had lost."
Darryll, from Barrow, Lancashire, had been warned by doctors that he needed to lose weight to improve his health and dropped from 20 to nine stone over the course of just a few months last year.
But while delighted with his slimmer frame, the train conductor became worried when he found he could barely swallow anything, even liquid, by the end of last year.
He’d begun feeling unwell in September 2020, experiencing serious gut pain and a loss of appetite.
He was also getting an acrid taste in his mouth when eating and was at first told he had a case of acid reflux.
But his condition continued to deteriorate and by December he was struggling to eat anything at all.
"I cooked us a roast for Christmas Day and Darryll came round to see me and the kids.” Katrina recalled.
"He couldn't eat anything. It went on from there really. If he did eat something, he would bring it up days later.
"It was like it just sat in his stomach."
Following a hospital trip in January, Darryll was told that he had cirrhosis of the liver caused by fatty deposits.
By this point he had lost 11 stone in weight and couldn’t even keep water down.
It was this that prompted Katrina to rush her ex-husband to hospital last month.
Tests revealed he had severe stomach cancer, and doctors told him he would only be able to take in nutrients through a tube in his neck.
The devastated Northern Rail employee, who is father to 11-year-old Daniel and six-year-old Eva, is now facing surgery to have stents put into the top and bottom of his gut to enable him to eat.
"When they said it was cancer, I just felt completely numb,” recalled Katrina, 36. "I was also heartbroken for the children - this is their Daddy and they love him so much.”
The cancer has blocked up the top and bottom of Darryl’s stomach, meaning food he eats can’t get in and any liquid that does sits there. He is currently on the waiting list to undergo aggressive chemotherapy and is awaiting surgery.
For now, he is fed on special nutrients through a tube in his neck.
"Last year Darryll just had to change his diet, now he has to change his whole life," said Katrina.
"He had all these travel plans booked for this year, he was going to go here, there and everywhere on the trains.
"It's horrible for Daniel and Eva too, I've tried to be as honest as I can with them.
"It's a waiting game at the moment, Darryll could have the chemo and then he could live until he's 100, we just don't know.
"We've got to try and be positive."
Katrina is currently raising funds to support Darryll during his treatment. You can donate here: GoFundMe page.
