A YOUNG father who has been given only months to live is hoping to prove doctors wrong by trying to raise £50,000 to pay for pioneering treatment in Germany.

Adam Gray, 33, from York, was told last July that he had between six to 12 months to live, while his wife was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

He was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, a rare and incurable tumour that has spread to his lungs, liver and into his lymph nodes.

But he is determined to keep fighting and is today embarking on a fun run around York to raise money for potentially life-saving treatment in Germany, as well as raising funds for the Royal Free Charity - an organisation that researches into finding a cure for the cancer.

Adam originally felt a pain in his abdomen one day at work, but thought nothing of it.

After undergoing several tests - which came back inconclusive - doctors recommended that he should have an ultrasound test. The results revealed that he had stage four cancer.

He said: “I remember feeling numb and turning to my wife and saying how can this happen?

“I cycle nine miles to work everyday and play football and tennis at a high level. One minute I had a pain in my stomach and the next I am being told I don’t have long to live.

“At first I felt devastated, lost and confused. And then angry because I had just married my childhood sweetheart, Chrissy, and she was seven months pregnant.

“We had moved to London with our whole life ahead of us and then to get this news is just heartbreaking.

“But I knew I had a fight ahead of me to stay in the game as long as possible, and hopefully the treatment, which has shown positive signs in other patients, can help me get better.”

Adam and Chrissy - who first met at Millthorpe School, in York, when they were just 11 years old - married in York last year and welcomed their first child Amelie in October.

Adam added that he has been undergoing chemotherapy for the last six months, but is trying to raise funds for immunotherapy treatment at hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, that could help him.

He said: “There is evidence from trial testing that the vaccine can help against neuroendocrine cancer, but the treatment is in the early stages and is incredibly expensive.

“I also want to raise money to help spread awareness about neuroendocrine cancer because not many people have heard of it and the charity itself doesn’t get the funding it needs.”

Adam’s closest family, as well as hundreds of other family and friends, will be setting off from York Minster today (Saturday) at 2pm and running five miles around the city to hopefully raise more funds - while Adam will be completing the last mile with his grandad.

They have currently raised more than £60,000 - and have already donated £10,000 to the Royal Free Charity - whilst his friends will also be running the London Marathon for the charity later in the year.

To find out more, or to donate towards Adam’s run, visit https://bit.ly/373lDHd.