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Ashford man given 18 months to live after cancer resurgence
KentOnline / KMTV
Follow
20/02/2025
Matt Jones and his family have had a difficult time dealing with the diagnosis, after the bowel cancer spread to his liver, but a GoFundMe page has raised £5,000 for the family to support them.
We spoke about it more on The Kent Morning Show.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Finn joins us in the studio now. Finn, this is obviously the top story over on
00:04
Canton Online today, so there's plenty more that can be read up there, but what can you tell us?
00:08
Well, naturally the news has been difficult to bear for Matt and his family.
00:12
It's like you said, he has four young children and following his diagnosis he
00:17
told us that he's worried his youngest children, who are 20 months old,
00:21
won't even remember him when he's gone. He also went on to say that hearing
00:26
there was no option for surgery left him feeling empty and that when he found
00:29
out about the cancer's return he broke down. But the news that he has only 18
00:34
months to live, he said, just filled him and his wife with complete numbness.
00:40
And what are the family doing from now? Of course, we mentioned it in our
00:45
introduction this morning that there's a GoFundMe set up and some money's been
00:49
raised so far. What's that going to go towards?
00:51
Well, it's like you say, despite all the difficult news, Matt and Nicky are determined,
00:56
his wife, to make the time he has left really count and help him make memories
01:01
with the time he has left. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Jones
01:05
family enjoy special moments together and people have been donating money but
01:10
there's also been fundraisers, raffles, golf days, so much that Matt says he
01:14
can't keep up with it all. As to what it's going towards, the GoFundMe is
01:18
raising money towards a trip to Disneyland Orlando as well as just
01:22
providing financial support to the family as they aren't really working at
01:25
the moment. It's currently at more than £5,000 towards their £10,000
01:29
goal and he says, right now, I don't know how we've got through it all but somehow
01:32
we have and I'm just focusing on making the most of the time I have left and
01:36
spending it with the people I love.
01:38
Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it, just how much people rally around a story like
01:42
this and are willing to donate their money, you know, to make sure that, as you
01:46
say, the family can have a good time. Obviously, Disneyland Paris, or
01:50
Disneyland for that family, for those children, they will create memories
01:54
that will stay with them forever.
01:55
Absolutely and they say, you know, his wife Nikki was there with him to hear
01:59
the news and it's so difficult for them. As Matt sometimes says, he feels as
02:03
though he's normal and as for their children, they have two young twin girls
02:08
who are only 20 months old and then two older children who are five and eight. As
02:12
you can see there, that's their family photo and the couple haven't yet broken
02:15
the news of Matt's 18 months to live to the eldest two children. He says,
02:20
they know I've been unwell but we haven't told them everything yet.
02:23
We want to keep things as normal as possible for them and the two young
02:26
twins were born just weeks before Matt's initial diagnosis so you can
02:30
understand how difficult it is for them.
02:31
Yeah, that's been an incredibly challenging two years. Could you take us
02:38
through exactly what his diagnosis is?
02:40
I believe he was originally diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer back in 2022
02:45
but now, before he was diagnosed, again saying the cancer had returned and he
02:52
was going to go in for surgery to have more of the bowel removed. However, he
02:55
was then told that the cancer had spread to his liver, meaning removal was
02:59
impossible and that's why the doctors have now given him this 18-month
03:03
timeline.
03:04
Yeah, over on Kent Online it says, Matt, who's originally from Tenterden, says
03:08
they've been blown away by the kindness of friends, family and even strangers who
03:11
have rallied to support them. He said he doesn't know how he's got it through, gone
03:15
through it all, but somehow they have and right now he's focusing on making the
03:18
most of the time he has left and spending with the people he loves and we
03:22
imagine that GoFundMe will go a way to supporting some very, very special
03:26
memories.
03:27
Alright, Finn, thank you very much for those details.
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