Dad dying of cancer at 21 has just a year left with baby
A CANCER victim with just one year to live is on a heartbreaking mission to prepare his baby daughter for life without him.
Daniel McGrath, 21, is trying to spend as much time with six-monthold Millie as possible.
He is in hospital and is being fed through a tube as his family tries to face up to a future without him.
His wife Rebekah, 24, said: “It’s heartbreaking. We are trying to have family days out we can remember.
“Daniel’s ambition is to be there for Millie’s birthday in September. We take lots of photos so Millie can remember her daddy.
“She looks so like him. One day I will have to sit down with her and explain what happened.”
Daniel – whose condition was initially diagnosed as “acid reflux” – has written a list of things he would like to achieve before he dies – including meeting former Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard.
Daniel’s mother Angela yesterday said Gerrard intends to visit him.
She said: “We are a Liverpool family and we now live in Cambridgeshire.
“We understand Stevie will visit Daniel. It will be a dream come true.”
Daniel, who married Rebekah last August, was told by doctors last week that he has a rare cancer caused by a stomach ulcer.
The young apprentice builder lost 2dstone in nine weeks, according to Angela, 45.
She said: “It’s been a terrible time for us.
“We’ve been told to spend as much time with him as possible before the inevitable happens.”
Tests show the cancer has spread throughout his stomach and liver.
His wife wants to help Daniel
DANIEL’S BUCKET LIST
To meet football legend Steven Gerrard, right
Go to a Liverpool FC home game
Go indoor sky-diving
Get a new tattoo
Take a ride on a HarleyDavidson achieve his “bucket list” of dreams before it is too late. The family has set up an online GoFundMe account to raise a target of £1,000. Rebekah said: “It is doing really well. Daniel has been on morphine for some time. There is no treatment they can do and no operation. “They have said a year but it could be longer – they don’t know. We have all come together to try to spend as much time with him as possible. “He has a lot of things he wanted to do. Now we just want to raise as much money as we can.” Angela added: “He can’t eat so he has got a feeding tube to take the food down to his bowel. “Rebekah has learned how to clean it and give it to him properly. “He can’t go until she does. “We started raising money because there is no research into this kind of stomach cancer. There are only 10 people in the world Daniel’s age with it. We want to find a test so nobody goes through what he has had to go through.” home