'Fit and healthy' dad told he had illness with 2% chance of survival
"He wasn't going to be one of the people who gets no treatment at all. We were willing to try anything."
A "fit and healthy" dad who was struck down by a mysterious illness "literally overnight" was later diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer.
Mal Morris, 66, was still working as an electrician when he suddenly started feeling unwell in September 2023. Little did he know he was suffering from cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), a malignant tumour that carries a miniscule 2-3% chance of survival if it spreads beyond the bile ducts.
The tumour was deemed inoperable, and he was instead offered surgery for a stent in his bile duct in order to relieve his severe symptoms and jaundice. But after his family reached out to AMMF, the UK's only Cholangiocarcinoma Charity, he was recommended for immunotherapy by a doctor from University College London - a move which, his sister Dawn says, saved his life.
Dawn, 44, said: "Mal became ill in September 2023 and it was literally overnight. Within 24 hours he was completely jaundiced. He went to his GP who referred him straight to A&E at the Royal, and initially they suspected gallstones because he was so severely jaundiced. He had a couple of days on the acute medical units, and then they said they suspected cancer.
"He lost so much weight, his skin was dark yellow, and he was in and out of Aintree Hospital for about two months. It was at that point we decided to research the type of cancer he had. It's a really aggressive cancer, and some patients don't get any treatment at all.
"We contacted UCL Hospital for a consultation. They recommended immunotherapy which had only just been approved for this type of cancer, so we had to fight for it. It absolutely saved his life.
"My brother was fit and healthy. He used to cycle to work. He was very health conscious, doesn't smoke, was never a big drinker. He went from being completely normal to so ill over the course of a weekend.
"Everybody was absolutely devastated by the news we were given. We didn't think we were going to have him beyond Christmas 2023. But it triggered this determination that he wasn't going to be one of the people who gets no treatment at all. We were willing to try anything.
"It gave us something to focus on because we just couldn't accept it. It put that fight in us to find something for him because we didn't want to give up."
Mal, a dad-of-three from Woolton, soldiered on with immunotherapy and chemo for a year. But in January this year, he was given the sad news that the treatment had stopped working - his cancer had spread.
He now hopes to pursue histotripsy, a new, non-invasive treatment that uses ultrasound waves to create microbubbles that mechanically destroy the cancerous tissue.
The treatment is approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is currently only available in the United States - meaning he faces a massive £85,000 bill, as well as travel costs.
Dawn said: "We were wary at first because it sounded too good to be true. But when we found out there had been a trial by the Leeds University Medical School and letters written to UK Parliament, it really gave us hope. You'll do whatever you can. The trial has proved successful, so it's a case of when, not if, it's available. But we don't have time to wait."
An online fundraiser has raised more than £16,000 so far, enabling Mal to book his first round of histotripsy in Oroville, California. He said: "I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far - I’ve been blown away by the generosity and kind words of support. I’ve had a rough couple of weeks since coming off immunotherapy and everyone’s messages have really kept me positive and focused on getting the treatment I desperately need."