A father-of-two battling cancer who was given just six months to live following five years of failed chemotherapy has revealed how a clinical trial offered him a “lifeline” and “cured” him within eight months. Vaughan Herriott, a former construction business owner, received his non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis – a form of cancer affecting the lymphatic system – back in 2017, following bankruptcy and multiple “family tragedies”.
The 59 year old endured five different chemotherapy regimens over the subsequent five years, yet the disease persistently returned – and by 2022, medics informed Vaughan that all treatment avenues had been exhausted, leaving him with merely six months to live. After confronting the reality that “death was a real possibility”, Vaughan was presented with what he describes as his “last chance saloon” – enrollment in a clinical trial featuring experimental immunotherapy administered via infusion.
Recognising this as his final opportunity, Vaughan, from Bodmin, Cornwall, agreed to participate in the treatment programme and, remarkably, within eight months received the life-changing news: “You’re cured, you haven’t got cancer anymore.”
As he gears up to mark three years of remission this October, Vaughan is now advocating for expanded cancer treatment research through the Be Part of Research service, hoping others might also receive a “second chance”.
Vaughan said: “I basically went from something they couldn’t cure in five years with five different chemos, to being cured in eight months with something that I only had to have once a week. I would have been dead three years ago if I hadn’t participated in a trial. I’m deeply grateful to the fantastic team of nurses and doctors who supported me.”
Previously “fit as a fiddle” and running a successful building trade business, Vaughan’s life took a turn after facing financial woes and bankruptcy. Following this, he endured several “family tragedies”, including the loss of his father to suicide.
“I remember laughing and joking with him only a week before,” Vaughan recalled. During this tumultuous period, he noticed a lump in his neck but didn’t initially worry due to a history of “lumps and bumps” from gland issues.
His GP initially dismissed the symptom, he said. However, as the lump grew more prominent, Vaughan said it was visibly “sticking out of (his) throat”, prompting him to seek further medical advice. The NHS notes that a painless swelling in a lymph node, often found in the neck, armpit or groin, is a common sign of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Before undergoing a biopsy, Vaughan sought advice from his GP once more: “Before they biopsied it, I phoned my GP. They said, ‘We haven’t had any results back or anything, but just out of interest, do you have night sweats?’ And I said, ‘Well, yes, I do have bad night sweats’. Then they said, ‘Oh, you’ve probably got cancer then’.”
Following the complete removal of the lump by medics, Vaughan revealed his stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis was subsequently confirmed at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in 2017, describing the news as “shocking”.
He went on: “It was the worst possible news I could’ve received and at a terrible point in my life. I went from a dark place to an even darker place.
“I was still grieving for my father, but everything was coming on top of me, all at once. There’s nothing like kicking a bloke when he’s down.”
Vaughan, who crafts puppets as a hobby and is a devoted Thunderbirds enthusiast, embarked on a course of treatments, including chemotherapy and Rituximab – a targeted cancer drug. He revealed that medics quickly escalated his chemotherapy dosage before progressing to Beam therapy, which eliminates cancer cells alongside healthy cells from bone marrow.
“They harvest your stem cells to give back to you once you’ve had this chemotherapy, which basically kills the bone marrow and any cancer cells,” Vaughan said. “You have this chemo, it makes you feel poorly, it kills the bone marrow… and then they give you your stem cells back.
“Since you go neutropenic, which means you have no immune system whatsoever, I was put into isolation for two months. After my bloods improved, they allowed me to go home, which was the best day of my life, but the treatment didn’t work.”
After enduring five different chemotherapy regimens over five years and suffering from fatigue, nausea, and a sensation akin to being “feeling radioactive” Vaughan faced a devastating setback in 2022 when he was informed that his cancer had returned. He recounted the moment doctors told him there were no more treatment options available and that he had only six months left to live.
“I was told it had come back again. It had encased my kidneys, it had encased my liver and it had invaded into my spine,” he said. “After that, they basically said there’s no other chemotherapy that you can have. I had to get it straight in my mind that death was a real possibility.”
However, Vaughan’s story took an unexpected turn when he was offered a spot on a clinical trial. By October 2022, after eight months of undergoing immunotherapy, which leverages the body’s own immune system to combat cancer, he achieved remission.
“I took to the trial with no side effects and within eight months I was cured,” he said.
Now nearly three years into remission, Vaughan is optimistic about the future of immunotherapy, hoping it will be recognised as a primary treatment rather than a last-ditch effort. Throughout his ordeal, he has maintained a positive outlook, and when asked to encapsulate his journey in one word, he chose “remarkable”.
He’s now throwing his support behind the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Be Part of Research service, which aims to develop new treatments, discover improved ways to manage health conditions and enhance care. He credits mindfulness, quality time with family, and “seizing the moment” as key factors in coping with his diagnosis, yet his primary goal remains “encouraging people to step forward and to get more research done”.
“If I wasn’t offered the clinical trial, myself and other people wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I’ve been given a second chance… and I want to get the message out there that all hope is not lost, even if you feel all hope is lost. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
For further information about the Be Part of Research service, please visit: bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/join.