Hartlepool terminally ill dad-to-be is determined to meet his newborn son

In seven years, Rob Allen has undergone two bone marrow transplants, withstood numerous rounds of gruelling chemotherapy and overcome a host of related painful conditions.

In 2013 aged just 33 he was diagnosed with the cancer Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) linked to a bone marrow disorder not normally seen in people under 60.

After a bone marrow transplant and heavy chemotherapy Rob stayed cancer free for three years and landed a dream job in non-destructive testing.

But the cancer later returned and developed into an even more serious type of leukaemia.

Then in January this year, just as he was starting to feel better and with wife Kimberley 14 weeks pregnant with their first child, doctors delivered the devastating news that the cancer had spread to Rob’s spine and there was no chance of recovery.

Despite the tragic news, Rob tells how he is facing the inevitable and is focusing all his energy on his family and the imminent arrival of their baby boy due in just a few weeks time.

Friends are also trying to raise £100,000 for his final fight.

Rob, 40, said: “It felt like it was going to be our year. We were looking for a new house and going to have a baby.

“When they said it was terminal it was absolutely devastating. Everything was shattered and destroyed.

“It took us probably months to get our heads around it and kind of accept it.

“But I think as humans we have to adapt. You’ve got to get it out of your head and live for the day and the near future.”

In 2016, Rob’s cancer returned more aggressively and developed into Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

The following year he married soulmate Kimberley, 36, from North Yorkshire, who he met online.

“It was a difficult decision because I thought ‘I don’t want to leave her to be alone’,” said Rob, who went to Dyke House school. “But it was something she wanted so much, and so did I.”

They were overjoyed when Kimberley fell pregnant late last year after IVF worked for the first time.

Rob, who now lives in Durham, has also overcome pneumonia, and deep vein thrombosis, which along with the cancer in his spine has affected his mobility.

But chemo and lumbar punctures are helping. He added: “I should be able to go out for walks with the pram.

“That’s our aim. I could have a couple of months to a couple of years.”

But as Rob's mobility will get worse close friend Karli Coates has launched a crowdfunding appeal with a target of £100,000 for adaptations to his home and for Kimberley and the baby in the future.

On the page Karli said: “In The last 12 months I have watched my kind, wonderful friend deal with so much physical and emotional turmoil that I have often questioned the fairness of the cards he has been dealt.”

Anyone who wishes to help can do so at the JustGiving page by searching for Karli Coates.

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