A DULOCH dad is hoping he can take his family on a dream Disneyland holiday after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

David McManus’ life was turned upside down as he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October last year.

He underwent ‘brutal’ chemotherapy treatment and an operation to remove his stomach in March, before scan results in July showed the cancer had spread to his liver with a tumour on his adrenal glands. He was told the cancer was now terminal.

David, 32, is undergoing more chemotherapy to help prolong his life, with his dream now to take wife Susan, daughter Lexie, seven, and stepson Lewis, 15, to Disneyland for an amazing memory-making adventure.

A fundraising page has been set up to raise £5,000, with £2,300 already collected.

David told the Press: “You just have to deal with the cards you’ve been dealt.

"This is the journey I’m on now. I just need to pray that this new chemotherapy is working.

“Hearing that my cancer was terminal was the last thing I was expecting to hear. 

“When I was first told I had cancer, I did have a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong. I don’t know why but I had this feeling that I had it. I was expecting it a little bit then.

“However, I really never expected it would be terminal. My whole body just shut down in the room. I just blacked out. I had to get out of the room and the hospital. I was sweating and I just couldn’t believe what I had heard.

“I was heartbroken. It can land on anybody’s doorstep but I’m so young, with a young family, it does break my heart.”

David had started experiencing pains in August last year and phoned NHS 24 who advised him to go to hospital immediately.

He stayed in hospital for a week but nothing was detected.

After being discharged, the pains continued and once more he found himself back in hospital.

He was given tablets to take for the pain before flying out to Turkey on holiday.

The pain followed and he found himself in a Turkish hospital with doctors suggesting he had a blood infection.

He dealt with the pain on his return and had a gastroscopy in October at Victoria Hospital. The camera found he had a "massive ulcer".

David continued: “I thought ‘happy days’ as they finally knew what it was and I was given medication for a week.

“The hospital then phoned me asking me to come in and speak with them. The woman said that it was no longer an ulcer, it was now a tumour and it was stage three stomach cancer.”

He was given chemotherapy and had his full stomach removed on March 26. His body was too weak after the operation to handle the chemo so it was stopped, with the re-scan revealing the cancer was terminal.

Susan added: “We weren’t expecting that news in July but I saw that he was going downhill again. The Disney trip would mean the world to us. You don’t know what’s round the corner, so it really would mean so much.”

To donate to their fundraising target online, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sandra-king?utm_term=Ng3N8pkd6