John McCallum: Haddington dad dies after family raise over £126,000 for potentially life-saving cancer treatment

A father of two from Haddington has died of bowel cancer while waiting for a life-saving liver transplant that his family had fundraised over £126,000 to pay for.
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John McCallum was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer on Father's Day 2020, and has sadly died while awaiting treatment in a clinical trial.

After rounds of chemotherapy following his diagnosis, doctors advised that surgery was not an option as the cancer had spread.

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John’s wife, Lorna Forsyth, began to look at alternative treatment options and discovered the clinical trial in Germany which was using live donor liver transplants for bowel cancer patients who had previously been deemed inoperable.

The total cost would have been £220,000, so John’s family set up a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising the funds.

The page received over 3,400 donors and has raised £126,407 in total.

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Lorna has updated the page saying that John had passed away “peacefully at home where he wanted to be” on November 6, 2021.

John McCallum: Haddington dad dies after family raise over £126,000 for potentially life-saving cancer treatmentJohn McCallum: Haddington dad dies after family raise over £126,000 for potentially life-saving cancer treatment
John McCallum: Haddington dad dies after family raise over £126,000 for potentially life-saving cancer treatment
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She wrote: “We couldn't be prouder of him, of his determination and courage over the last 17 months.

"He couldn't have fought any harder. John was incredibly well-loved by many and we miss him immensely.

"He lives on through his beloved daughters, Emma and Ivy.

“Thank you all so much for supporting the fundraiser, we so hoped that it would be our miracle.”

Half of the money raised will be used to cover John’s outstanding medical expenses and the funeral cost, as well as going towards supporting the couple’s two children.

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The other half will be split between Bowel Cancer UK and various GoFundMe fundraisers dedicated to people with bowel cancer.

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