David Paul, from Bucknall, Staffordshire, died in March, less than half a year after the 56-year-old admitted himself to hospital with complaints of feeling “out of sorts”
A dad who went to hospital complaining about feeling “out of sorts” died within five months of his appointment after receiving a devastating diagnosis.
David Paul, a “bubbly, fun loving and caring” dad of three from Bucknall, Staffordshire, died last month, under half a year after he was diagnosed with terminal stage four metastatic brain cancer diagnosis. He was referred to the Royal Stoke University Hospital in October 2024, where doctors told him scans showed he had a mass on his brain. The cancer consumed him through the rest of the year and into early 2025, and he died surrounded by his family on March 23.
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Still coming to terms with his death, his late wife Shelly-Grattan Paul, who said she wasn’t aware people could get brain cancer, said his condition started rapidly deteriorating in December last year. He started experiencing brain bleeds and strokes, and became “confused all the time”, with the disease eventually taking his ability to properly stand.
Shelly told StokeonTrentLive: “It was horrible. I wasn’t even aware you could get brain cancer. I’ve heard of cancer in other places in the body – like lungs, prostate or skin – but never the brain. I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through the same. I really wouldn’t. He was okay at first, but in December he got really ill.
“They found a bleed on his brain and the cancer got more aggressive. He deteriorated rapidly. He started getting confused all the time and he couldn’t stand up properly. Then he had two strokes, which meant he couldn’t speak or move. It was literally hell. It took everything from him.”
“He was always bubbly, fun-loving and caring. Loyal, trustworthy and honest. Everything you could ever want in a person. Honestly, he’d do anything for anybody. If you needed help, he’d drop what he was doing right away so he could be there for you. I miss him more than I can say.”
Remembering her husband – with whom she had recently connected following 18 months of separation – the widow said David would “do anything for anybody”, and that she missed him “more than I can say”. She continued: “He was always bubbly, fun-loving and caring. Loyal, trustworthy and honest.
“Everything you could ever want in a person. Honestly, he’d do anything for anybody. If you needed help, he’d drop what he was doing right away so he could be there for you. I miss him more than I can say.”
David’s stepson Andrew Grattan has launched a public appeal to raise money so the family can give David the “end off he deserves”, hoping to raise £3,000 for the late 56-year-old. He explained: “I set up a GoFundMe in hopes that we can just get some donations to support with the outstanding costs of his funeral.
“Obviously, funerals cost a lot nowadays and we didn’t think we’d need to pay for one so we don’t have the money for it. When we got the quotes we were looking at paying around £6,000. We’re never gonna be able to get that together in time on our own. But we want to give him a proper goodbye, the best one we possibly can.”
People who want to help out the family can donate to the GoFundMe campaign here.
