Gareth’s story

Gareth, from Wrexham in Wales, was just 33 years old when he died in hospital from pancreatitis. His parents, Lynn and Steve, share his story with us in the hopes of raising awareness and helping other families affected by the condition.  

Tell us about Gareth and your family 

“Gareth was the oldest brother to a brother and sister and husband to his wife, Sam. He was a teacher. His passion was singing, and he was a member of the Johns’ Boys Male Chorus Choir, who performed on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent in 2022. His other big passion was Wrexham Football Club. “

When did Gareth’s symptoms begin and what were they? 

“Gareth was at work when his symptoms began. Around 3pm, he began to experience some discomfort in his stomach. Within the next two hours the pain became severe. We rang 111, who advised we take him to A&E.  We went straight away.”

Talk us through Gareth’s time in hospital 

“At the hospital, they managed to get the pain under control, but he was kept in overnight. They did some tests and scans at the hospital and in the early hours, we were told it was pancreatitis. Gareth was moved to critical care where he stayed for 10 days. During that time, we were told that around a third of the pancreas was covered with a cyst and had died.  

Gareth was moved to a ward where he spent the next four weeks. During that time, we were able to visit him. He was conscious for the first week and talked to us the whole time, before beginning to lose consciousness. He was in a lot of pain, and he was very confused. He couldn’t eat much, and he was very weak and tired.  

The plan was to move Gareth to a specialist hospital, however, things continued to deteriorate. We were told that they couldn’t operate until he was stable, and nothing could be done until things had settled down, but they never did.  

Gareth was moved back into critical care and put into an induced coma. His pancreas had died, and his condition began to deteriorate that night. They couldn’t get his blood pressure up. Both his kidneys and liver failed and unfortunately, they couldn’t get things under control. His cause of death was multiple organ failure due to pancreatitis.”

How were the days and weeks that followed? 

“It was a very difficult time as the cause of Gareth’s pancreatitis couldn’t be found. It wasn’t alcohol or diet-related. The cause may have been genetic, but we don’t know. The hospital did ask us if they could go ahead with tests to try and find out the cause. We agreed and said that anything that can help people be more aware of what causes pancreatitis – and if it can help someone else affected in the future – that would be amazing.   

At his funeral, the church was packed, and the service was such a tribute to his life and him. We received cards from all the schools where he’d been a supply teacher. His friends and colleagues always talk about him, and just recently, his fellow choir members did a performance as a tribute to him.”

How are you now? 

“It’s still hard to come to terms with. He was a lovely son, husband and brother and it is still very raw. Our outlook is that we are living our lives for Gareth.  He wouldn’t want us to give up, so we’re not giving up.“

Did you know about pancreatitis before? 

“We had never heard of pancreatitis before. We’d heard of pancreatic cancer but not pancreatitis. There were no signs or symptoms, it happened so quickly, and things went downhill from there. Pancreatitis is a horrible disease and that’s why we want to share Gareth’s story.”

How can YOU help to support vital work into a cure?

There is no effective treatment for pancreatitis. There is no cure.

Guts UK is dedicated to finding an effective treatment, a cure for this misunderstood and underfunded condition. We are building a community affected by pancreatitis, comforted in knowing they’re not alone.

Our guts have been underfunded and misunderstood for too long. Together, we can change that. For just the price of a cuppa each month, you can regularly donate to our life-saving research today.