Family joy as Scots dad lives to see another 'miracle' Christmas

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Dumfries dad Richard Nelson cooked Christmas dinner for 11 of his family despite being told in January he could “die at any moment”.It was a second “miracle” Christmas for Richard, 41, wife Claire, 37 and their children nine-year-old Killian and Aurora, six.In August 2023, the Dumfries family were told that the head and neck cancer Richard had been diagnosed with was incurable.He defied doctors predictions to spend last Christmas with his family.But after another tumour appeared on Boxing Day next to a main artery, Richard was told “nothing else could be done” and he only had a couple of weeks left to live.Richard and Claire refused to give up hope, and after fighting for more treatment, that they were told had only a 10 per cent chance of giving him an extra couple of months, scans have shown the disease is now too small to detect.Richard credits Claire for refusing to give up hope in searching for a cure, saying she “saved my life”.But she says his motto to just roll with the punches and keep going, keep fighting, is the reason he is still here today.Claire said: “Richard was first diagnosed in 2021 and in August 2023 we were told the cancer was incurable and to do Christmas as soon as possible.“The chemotherapy wasn’t working and neither was the immunotherapy treatment he was trying.“He got through last Christmas, but on Boxing Day another tumour appeared next to a main artery.“We were told in January nothing else could be done and all treatment would be stopping.“It was horrendous.”Claire refused to accept the prognosis and contacted a hospital in Birmingham that was offering cancer patients different treatment trials.After a lot of “fake hope”, the couple were eventually contacted by Richard’s former oncologist at a