A man who was feeling in good health ended up getting the 'worst diagnosis possible' after he started smelling caramel unexpectedly.
Stoke-on-Trent chip shop owner Costas Fantis could tell his sense of smell had changed and he kept smelling the scent of the sweet treat.
His family explained that he'd get it about once a month and eventually the 57-year-old thought it might have something to do with epilepsy, which he'd dealt with as a child.
The smell never lasted very long and his family told him he should probably go and get a scan to get to the bottom of the strange smell of caramel.
Advert
Sadly, when he went in for a scan and tests Costas ended up being diagnosed with stage four IDH-wildtype glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain cancer.
Since his diagnosis in April 2024, he's completed radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the approved treatments on the NHS, but his family are trying to raise money to pay for Costas to get potentially life-saving treatment in Germany.
Costas' son, Antonio, said: "It's really bizarre because symptoms-wise he didn't have much at all.
"On the odd occasion he would have a caramel smell, a sweet smell. But it would happen very quickly, and once a month or so.
"From what we now know they define them as mini seizures, they last seconds, nothing happens to you whilst you do it."
The Stoke bloke's family said they'd been 'shell-shocked' to learn that a 'really fit and healthy man' had been diagnosed with stage four brain cancer.
A biopsy told them that the tumour was inoperable, which Antonio said made them 'worried, scared, nervous' as they were trying to wrap their heads around their dad's diagnosis when he appeared to have no other symptoms.
"It just kind of proves that you can be a fit and healthy man yet still have something wrong with you," he said.
Costas himself was 'stunned' by the diagnosis and his son said he reckons his dad still doesn't know how to react to it but is determined to keep seeking treatment.
Antonio said that his dad has gone through radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which he has responded well to, but said that 'there's not much the NHS can do' now and that in consultancy meetings the family had been told 'not to cut back on anything and just enjoy your life'.
Seeking alternative treatments to 'the worst type of brain cancer', Costas' family are raising money for him to go through DC vaccine therapy in Germany, the cost of which is expected to reach £464,000.
The family have set up a GoFundMe, which you can donate to here, to try and help reach that goal.
It has amassed over £267,000 in donations thus far and Antonio said his dad had 'reaped the rewards' from being a 'very giving' person.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Joe Harker