Family to build memorial garden for dad who died from rare cancer

Father-of-four Guy Lees, 59, died on Saturday, July 3 — one week after marrying his partner of 21 years, Nicki.

Having previously lived in Havant, a small service was held at the couple's home in Selsey after they were given a special licence, due to Guy's deteriorating health.

‘He was one of these men that never fell out with anyone his whole life,’ Nicki said. ‘Every person he ever met said he had a heart of gold.

‘He adored his family. He doted on his children, he would do anything for them.

‘He was very welcoming, loving, so laid back. Everyone who knew him adored him.

‘He was perfect in every way, I was very lucky.’

Guy had been diagnosed, in August 2020, with cancer in the oesophagus, which had spread to his liver. Nicki said it was a rare form of the disease 'which you don't know about until it's advanced'.

‘He initially had problems swallowing and a lot of indigestion but we didn't think anything of it,’ Nicki explained.

‘We went to Holywell Bay in Cornwall for a week and he got really poorly. He lost loads of weight really quickly.

‘He knew that was something wrong but thought it would be a stomach ulcer. The symptoms were like that.’

Delivery driver Guy, who was born in Kenya, was one of the longest serving employees for Tesco in Chichester.

Nicki said her husband was a hard worker and she had to convince him to take time off work to get checked out by the doctors. After being taken to A&E, a small lump was discovered in Guy's stomach.

‘We guessed it could be a tumour,' Nicki said. 'We were numb and couldn't take it in.

‘We were given an appointment with an oncologist. We knew then that it had something to do with cancer.

‘They said, unfortunately, that you have a tumour in your stomach and it was inoperable.

‘It had spread to his liver and he was already stage four by then.’

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Guy responded well to the chemotherapy treatment and was put into remission.

He remained off work for seven months but was well enough to return in April.

However, on his birthday, May 4, Guy became ‘incoherent’.

‘He wasn't understanding what I was saying to him,’ Nicki said. ‘He insisted he was fine but he didn't even know what year it was.’

Guy was admitted back to hospital and, following a number of tests and scans, it was found that the cancer had returned and was now in his brain.

Due to his high enzyme levels, Guy was told on July 15 that he couldn't be offered anymore treatment and was 'told to enjoy the rest of his time with his family’.

Nicki said: ‘After the wedding, he spent the rest of the week in bed. He said to me on Wednesday that he loved me and wanted me to stay strong.’

Guy died peacefully after saying goodbye to his two daughters, aged 13 and 15, and two sons aged 12 and 23.

So that the children have ‘somewhere to talk to their dad’ and ‘make new memories’, the family now hope to raise enough money for a memorial garden.

This would be named Guy's corner and based in their back garden, alongside their ‘really lovely tree’/

Family-friend Toni Rumsey said: ‘He always wanted to do up the back garden. Now we will make it into a memorial garden for his children.

‘That was his wish before he passed.’

With the help of local businessman Nick Ford, Toni is supporting the fundraising efforts by raffling off a refurbished spa for six people.

If you would like to make a donation, see gofundme.com/f/making-memories-for-the-lees-family

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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