Dad thought he was getting a great tan and reaching his weight loss goals – until he was given a 7% chance of survival

WHEN David Slater started to feel more tired than usual, his family shrugged it off.

The father had recently reached his ideal weight and had a nice tan, which gave everyone the impression that he was healthy.

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But just four months later he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of less than seven percent.

“Learning about pancreatic cancer was heartbreaking as the prognosis is so poor,” said David’s daughter, Lucinda Slater.

She added: “I had heard about pancreatic cancer before my father was diagnosed, but I didn’t know much about it, or that it had one of the worst prognoses of the many different types of cancer.

“Once pancreatic cancer is on your radar and affects someone in your family, you hear about it everywhere.”

David, from North Tyneside, was traveling to London in March 2022 when his symptoms first emerged.

“Dad wasn’t feeling very well during the trip and he was always full of beans, so it wasn’t like him to feel tired,” Lucinda said.

“He was having some pain in his shoulder and had lost some weight, but he was trying to lose a few pounds, so we didn’t think anything of it.

“Dad also thought he was developing a nice tan, but unfortunately it was jaundice,” she added.

In June he went to his family doctor, who initially thought he might have liver cancer.

But tests revealed he had pancreatic cancer, which is much more difficult to treat.

Earlier this year, former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was told by doctors that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer and that he had “at best a year to live”.

At first, surgeons were unsure whether they would be able to operate.

But in October 2022 the family received news that surgery would be attempted, although there was no guarantee of success.

“For me, it was very precarious for a long time and waiting to find out if he could be operated on was the hardest part of the whole experience,” Lucinda explained.

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Despite the ten-hour operation being “really successful”, David was kept in hospital for a month to recover from internal bleeding.

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David had the option of undergoing chemotherapy for six months after surgery, but decided to decline in favor of “a chance to enjoy life,” Lucinda said.

“After reflecting on the matter, he refused as his logic was that it would not greatly increase his chances of survival,” she added.

‘SO LUCKY TO HAVE HIM WITH US’

When he got home, his recovery accelerated even more.

“He’s since returned to normal, plus he’s diabetic, to the point where you think ‘Did that really happen?’” Lucinda added.

Cancer attacks the pancreas, a vital organ about the size of a hand that produces enzymes to break down food and insulin to control blood sugar.

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers, with a five-year survival rate of less than seven percent, according to Action against pancreatic cancer.

Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the disease every year in the UK, and half of cases are not found until the tumor is stage four and has already spread.

Often there are no symptoms or they are confused with something else.

Lucinda has since run the 2024 Hackney Half Marathon in East London to raise vital funds for Pancreatic Cancer Action.

She said: “My father is a pancreatic cancer survivor.

“We are very lucky to have him with us and I don’t want to take that for granted.

“I want to help change things so that other families are in the same position as us and their loved ones survive.”