A 28-year-old man from Beverley is encouraging people to cherish every moment of their lives after a shock cancer diagnosis turned his world upside down last summer.
Ryan Storey had felt perfectly healthy and displayed no symptoms until he noticed a small lump in his armpit while carrying shopping bags. Following medical consultations, he received the devastating news that he had Burkitt’s Lymphoma – a rare form of cancer which affects the blood and lymph system and is diagnosed in just 210 people in the UK each year.
Sadly, by the time the lump was discovered, the disease had already reached Stage 4. Ryan explained: “Since my diagnosis last year, it’s all been a bit of a whirlwind. I hadn’t felt ill, I didn’t know there was anything wrong, but at the point I was told I have Burkitt’s Lymphoma, it was at Stage 4, which means the disease is quite far advanced and it’s in both my armpit and my stomach.”
For the last nine months, Ryan has been cared for at the Queen’s Centre within Castle Hill Hospital. Supported by staff on Ward 33 and the Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Unit, he has completed six rounds of chemotherapy, which aims to manage the cancer and allow him more time with family, friends and loved ones.
Amid a schedule of hospital visits, Ryan and his fiancée, Anais, received unexpected news that changed everything. Ryan said: “My fiancée Anais and I had been trying for a baby for a couple of years without success, and we’d even been thinking about IVF.
“Then one night while I was in hospital for a round of chemo, Anais called me late at night in tears. I wondered what was going on, and my immediate feeling was frustration that I was in hospital and wouldn’t be able to do anything, but she told me she was pregnant, and there were some really mixed emotions.
“Our baby has given me something to fight for, and our little boy is now due in just two weeks’ time. I‘m trying my hardest to get as much time as I possibly can to spend with him, hopefully the rest of my life, and if not then a couple of months, years, or whatever it is, I just want to make the most of my time with my family.”
Ryan began documenting his experience on Instagram and TikTok under the handle @ryanscancerjourney. What started as a personal log has blossomed into a source of inspiration for thousands of others facing similar battles.
He said: “I’ve had lots of ups and downs already, but sharing my story will give us something to look back on and help to spread awareness. I’ve had hundreds of messages from other people with cancer who have told me that my content has helped them feel better about starting chemotherapy, or where people having been feeling down but my videos have given them hope and shown that you can still get out, do stuff and be positive.”
Ryan says if others can take one message from his experience, it would be to live for the day. He added: “My cancer diagnosis came out of the blue, and I don’t know whether the treatment will work or how long it might give me, so my one piece advice to anyone would be to make the most of every minute.
“You don’t know what’s around the corner, you don’t know how much time you have, so spend time with the people you love, don’t waste time arguing, do what you want to do, appreciate the small things and just enjoy life.” Ryan has also praised the support he’s had from the hospital staff along the way, describing the teams on Ward 33 and the TYA Unit as ‘amazing’.
Kirsty Gascoigne, specialist nurse at the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology said: “Ryan has been so incredibly positive throughout his cancer journey. We don’t know how things will turn out but we as hospital staff, his friends and family, his social media followers, are all really rooting for him.”
Charlene Kent, youth support coordinator for the TYA Unit said: “Ryan has been doing exactly what he says as far as his cancer will allow; painting, cycling, going on holiday, because it’s important to him and his family to be positive, to make those memories and live the life he has to the full.”
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