'I thought pain was down to a dodgy sausage before they gave me months to live'

A father-of-two who initially dismissed his stomach pain as the result of a "a dodgy sausage" from a family barbecue was later diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. Matt Eamer, 44, began experiencing severe discomfort just days after celebrating his son Alex's second birthday in September 2020.

Despite rushing to hospital and being given Buscopan, his condition didn't improve. His wife Sarah, 41, a doula, took him to East Surrey Hospital where tests revealed a significant blockage in his large intestine.

After undergoing surgery to remove the mass, it was confirmed as stage four bowel cancer. Matt endured six months of intense chemotherapy, but during a subsequent operation to remove part of his liver in March 2021, surgeons discovered the cancer had spread to his peritoneum – the lining of the abdominal wall.

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Further tests revealed that Matt had a BRAF mutation – a genetic alteration that can lead to uncontrolled cell growth - and his cancer had developed and grown rapidly. Facing a prognosis of only months to live, Matt began taking newly approved immunotherapy drugs called Cetuximab infusion and pills named Emcorafenib. Remarkably, he responded well to the treatment and five years on, shows no signs of cancer while continuing to take the medication.

Matt, from Redhill, Surrey, who runs a design agency, said: "I was speaking to work colleagues over the first week or two and thought I'd cooked a dodgy sausage on the BBQ. My pain escalated quickly.

"I can still remember the person's voice when she phoned and said 'the plan for your diagnosis has changed'. They said 'we're talking months not years from a survival point of view'.

"Hitting five years with stage four is a rarity. You're not on your death bed, but you're forced to think about how you spend your time."

He revealed medics originally believed the growth could be non-cancerous. "They took out two thirds of my large intestine," he said. "A few days later they confirmed it was active cancer."

Following six months of chemotherapy, Matt was told on his 40th birthday by doctors that his treatment approach had altered. Matt has been taking four Encorafenib tablets each evening since and receives fortnightly Cetuximab infusions – aimed at prolonging his life by three to six months.

"It was a very dramatic movie-like point," he said. "It was a pivotal change, they said, 'we've gone in, it's gone further, we're going to try these new drugs'. My wife Sarah collapsed to the floor."

He started new medications approved just a few months beforehand, which target the aggressive spread of cancerous cells. Matt experienced an "unusual response" to the medication – with scans after six months revealing "any cancer" was absent – and continues to receive fortnightly infusions.

Despite requiring a 14-hour operation in December 2024 to extract tissue from his ribcage that carried the BRAF mutation and undergo HIPEC chemotherapy, Matt says medics are "back to view of we can't see anything, the scans are all showing things clear". "I'm never going to know what my future really looks like," he said.

"I continue to run my own business and the family. I remember four or five months ago listening to Virgin Radio and Chris Evans was interviewing Chris Hoy. He's really trying to challenge the perception of stage four.

"The reality is younger people are able to deal with treatments better and live longer, better, lives - even if it is stage four. The book he's written highlighting things like being presented with things like a devastating life-ending diagnosis, the cliche is you go for a big bucket list of swimming with dolphins and all that stuff.

"The reality is the 'bucket and spade things', the little moments. I spend more time looking at my kids' faces, taking them to a show or swimming in the sea; they are heightened. It means your ability to be present and focus upon what matters is heightened."

He's now planning to participate in a charity cycling event organised by Sir Chris Hoy in Glasgow on September 7, collecting money for Bowel Cancer UK. The ride will commemorate five years since his diagnosis.

"It's marking a milestone in a meaningful positive way," he said.