Andrew Johnston and his son Niall
THE WIDOW of a 33-year-old Fermanagh man who died from bowel cancer has paid tribute to the man “who would do anything for anyone”.
Andrew Johnston, from Irvinestown passed away on January 2 after being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer less than eight weeks earlier. Speaking to the Herald this week from their home in Treyford, West Sussex, his widow Emma paid a moving tribute to her much loved husband.
“He was just the nicest of people. He had a really big smile, would do anything for anyone, a true gentlemen, just couldn’t be nicer. Everyone that met him just loved him.”
Despite only being his father for a short time Emma is adamant her son Niall will always remember his daddy.
“He couldn’t have had a better daddy, he is a mini-Andrew he really is. I just feel so blessed to have had the time I had with him, he was just a brilliant man and I just want to do his memory justice.
“It absolutely breaks my heart that he won’t know his daddy. He will know from photos and through people’s stories, but he won’t remember his daddy.
“Everyone’s got a lovely, happy Andrew story, there’s definitely a million people out there who will be helping me keep his memory alive. There’s not a nicer man in the world than Andrew and I’m so lucky to be married to him.”
Emma and Andrew on their wedding day
Emma met Andrew seven years ago when he moved to England for work and the two were married in May 2014. Andrew was a construction manager in England and along with his wife ran the company Johnston Plant Hire Limited. In April 2015 the couple had their first child Niall and it was around that time that Andrew began to feel unwell as she explained.
“He had gone to the doctors quite a few times and about seven and a half weeks ago we took him to A and E. They initially thought he had a gluten intolerance, celiac disease and then we found out it was cancer and it was in the bowel, but by that time it had spread to his liver and his lungs and his liver was so bad at that point it was inoperable, but because of his age they thought with chemotherapy they could help him.”
Emma described how her husband deteriorated quickly after his diagnosis and less than eight weeks later passed away .
“We were told before Christmas by doctors in England that they didn’t believe there was anything they could do for him so they flew him to Belfast to the City Hospital to try and get a second opinion. He flew to Northern Ireland on December 30 and then the 31st was his 33rd birthday and then we had New Years Day. It was around half past one on the Saturday morning when he passed away.”
Following on from her husband’s tragic death Mrs Johnston wants to raise awareness of his condition so that others may learn.
“I want to raise awareness because it’s not something that happens to young people. I had not heard of anyone under the age of 60 with bowel cancer before. The doctors are absolutely gobsmacked and since then I have been in touch with another girl who recently lost her husband last month who’s local to me in England. He was 37, she is 30 and she’s got a one-year-old daughter. But we’re complete anomalies, it’s so rare to see this affect young people. It’s not something they would have been looking for at the doctors, but once I had a look online it does seem to be more and more young people who seem to be getting diagnosed with it.”
The funeral service for Andrew, the dearly loved son of Niall and Doreen Johnston, Killadeas Road, Irvinestown and devoted brother of Richard and Steven was held on Monday January 4 in Fermanagh, with a special memorial service to held in England at the end of the month. Andrew is missed terribly by his family including his Granny Bradshaw, with whom he was very close to.
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