Call for doctors to break link between smoking and lung cancer after dad-of-four went undiagnosed because he had never smoked

A grief-stricken family want to break the link in the minds of doctors and the public between smoking and lung cancer after their son died of the disease despite being a non-smoker.

Dad-of-four Liam Handley died in 2021 after his GP and doctors at Tameside Hospital failed to diagnose his condition.

And his father, Gordon, believes his son was not diagnosed until it was too late to save him because the association between smoking and lung cancer is so strong amongst medical staff.

Now he, and his wife Lynn, have joined forces with the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation to raise awareness that lung cancer can strike non-smokers as well.

Liam, from Glossop, was not diagnosed until nine months after seeking help and only then when his family paid for a private CT scan.

When he first went to the doctor with chest pains he was told it was down to stress.

He returned to his GP when the pains continued, but each time he was told to take anti-anxiety medication and was not referred for a chest X-ray.

Eventually, the pain became so acute that Liam thought he was suffering a heart attack and his father took him to Tameside hospital.

After an examination the family were told he had blood clots on his lungs and was prescribed blood thinners. He was discharged and told he needed an urgent scan, but due to Covid, this never took place.

Liam continued to get worse. Pain spread to his shoulders and back. His family paid for a private CT scan and that's when they received the devastating news that not only did he have lung cancer but it was too late to save him.

Gordon said: "We were told that he might not live for more than a few weeks. The whole family was devastated.

"We had waited nine months to find out what was wrong with him

"If he had been diagnosed earlier, we would still have a son and his children would have their father.

There was another shock in store for the family.

Tests revealed Liam had a genetically mutated lung cancer called adenocarcinoma EGFR Exon19 positive, which most commonly affects people who have no history of smoking.

Treatment meant Liam had started to improve, but he began to get breathless and his cancer was growing once more.

He had chemotherapy but continued to get weaker. He died on October 4. He was just 37-years-old.

Gordon, from Hyde, said: "We are torn apart every single day.

"There is such a connection between smoking and lung cancer that it is never thought of as a possible diagnosis if the patient is a non-smoker.

"If Liam had been tested earlier, he might still be with us.

"We are working with the Roy Castle foundation to try and make people aware that you can suffer lung cancer without being a smoker."

"Liam was an amazing son and an amazing father to his own children.

"He should still be with us now and we want to make sure that no other family has to go through what we have gone through."

Paula Chadwick, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: "Lung cancer is still so intrinsically linked to smoking but the reality is anyone can get this disease whether they have smoked or not.

"The more people we spoke to, the more we recognised that labels like smoker and non-smoker were having a direct impact on how quickly people were being diagnosed.

"That is why we are calling for a stop to these archaic labels. Lung cancer doesn't see them and neither should we."

Earlier this year, Liam's daughter Liara, from Dukinfield, chopped off 16 inches of her hair for the foundation in honour of what would have been his 40th birthday.

Liara donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust, where it will be made into a wig for a child with cancer.

"He was a fit, young guy - a chef by trade," Liam's dad, Gordon, said.

"It was almost immediately after finding out that Liam had cancer that we knew it was incurable. Within 12 hours of him being admitted into hospital, we were told it was stage 4.

"We thought he was going to die that weekend but we got him onto some treatment which was partly successful and pushed the cancer back for a little while but sadly it got past that and we lost him."

"He just kept saying how unfair it was," Louise, Liam's wife, added.

"He was scared and when he knew he was dying, he just kept saying 'what about the kids?' because they're so young."

Gordon added: "People can look at the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation's own website for all the amazing things they do. They pushed to get CT scans offered to everyone, which is something we've also been pushing for, because at the moment it's only for smokers but the NHS have agreed and rolled out a program to screen anyone."

Through donations the Foundation are able to fund vital research to ensure better outcomes for patients with lung cancer in the future by increased survival rates, support lung cancer patients and their families and prevent the next generation from getting lung cancer.

Prior to getting her hair cut, Louise said: "That particular hairdressers is where she's gone since she was very, very young. We'll be making some cakes for on the day and people can turn up to watch and donate too.

"She's got lovely long blonde hair down to her lower back. She's always called it 'princess hair' but she's decided she wants to have it cut just above her shoulders in dedication to her daddy to raise money for the charity. She's very excited, she can't wait and she thinks it'll be more manageable having it short."

The 10-year-old also received a letter from Jonathan Reynolds MP, which read: "I wanted to drop you a line to say that I have heard about your 'big haircut' which you have organised in memory of your much-loved daddy, Liam. This is a wonderful thing that you are doing, and I know your mummy and your whole family are incredibly proud of you.

"Thank you for being so kind and so thoughtful, you are a true inspiration and I wish you the best of luck with your event."