Dad's tickly cough turned out to be incurable lung cancer and 'won't be able to see his children grow up'

A dad of three, diagnosed with terminal lung cancer despite never having smoked, has said the hardest part is not being able to see his children grow up. Lewis Daines was ‘completely shocked’ when he visited the doctors with what he thought was a cough, only to be told the disease had spread all over his body.

The 35-year-old had a tickly cough that wouldn’t go away but grew more concerned when he began experiencing shoulder and chest pain. He visited his GP three months prior to his diagnosis and also visited A&E after being convinced to go by his wife Vicky. Lewis was then diagnosed with pneumonia and given a course of antibiotics.

Lewis, who lives in Crawley, West Sussex, is most devastated over missing his three children growing up. He has two toddlers with a third baby due this week.

The advanced nurse practitioner said: "Back in December, this dry cough started that just never went away. There was this 100-day cough going around and I was seeing sick people on a daily basis so I didn't think much of it.

"I was managing it and still doing my day to day stuff like going to the gym. I finally went to the doctors in February time and the doctor checked me over and came to the conclusion that it was just a cough. They weren't worried.

"I started getting these really bad pains in my shoulder and chest. My wife convinced me to go to A&E because she was getting worried. They did a chest x-ray and told me I had pneumonia and gave me two lots of antibiotics."

Two weeks after his initial visit to A&E, Lewis continued to feel increasingly unwell and went back where testing revealed a large mass in his right lung which was 'likely cancerous'. Further testing revealed the disease was present in Lewis' bones, adrenal glands and lungs - and the condition was classed as ‘end-stage’ and incurable.

Lewis said: "I was completely shocked. I thought worst-case scenario it might be cancer but could be removed. So when I was told it was incurable, it was quite hard to take. They think it might have been growing there for a couple of years but there were no real symptoms.

"It's a case of buying time rather than curing. Without treatment, the timeline is around four to seven months. With treatment, they just don't know, it's how you respond to treatment. You could respond quite well and have a couple of years, they just don't know.

"Having a really young family and a wife, you just lose everything. It's all been one setback then another. The hardest bit is not being able to see my children grow up and miss out on all of that.

“My wife is nine months pregnant so it'll be nice to be here for the birth. This is never anything that would've crossed my mind in a million years.

"I had no symptoms prior to the cough - I was going to the gym every night, don't drink, don't smoke. You get quite angry and think 'why me?' when people have smoked their whole lives."

Lewis has begun fundraising to help provide security for his family at a time of need. To donate visit his GoFundMe page.

Lewis is also urging everyone to push doctors when concerned about their symptoms - and take out life insurance at a younger age. Lewis said: "Don't be afraid to push if you think doctors are fobbing you off. You know when something isn't right, keep pushing for these checks.

"I wish I'd taken out life insurance. It's not something you usually think about in your thirties. I feel like the biggest burden to my family. I'd encourage everyone to take out life insurance. You think you're invincible and it won't happen to you - certainly at this age - but it would've helped us so much now."