Jack Easton, son, brother, uncle, grandson, cousin, friend. Taken from us far too soon.

Jack faced this challenge in typical Jack style - with humour, kindness and dogged determination. He never gave up hope, even as his body gave up on him. He fought for his life to the very end. 

The ask

Please support us in trying to get better outcomes for current and future bile duct cancer sufferers, in memory of Jack, his life and his fight with cancer. All donations great and small are very welcomed. 

Jack's cancer story

In January 2023 Jack was sent to the Emergency Department at Cheltenham General Hospital after blood tests indicated abnormal calcium levels.

Cancer was found in his liver, lungs and lymph nodes (and subsequently in his brain, sacrum and peritoneum) but with an unknown origin.

After a liver biopsy we were told that his cancer had started in his bile ducts - cholangiocarcinoma - a rare and aggressive form of cancer. With few early symptoms, it is usually diagnosed when the disease has progressed, and this was the case for Jack.

Jack started on chemotherapy, and had two rounds before a CT scan showed that the cancer had progressed and that the chemo wasn't working.

During this time Jack developed ascites, resulting in a permanent tube - known as a rocket - being fitted in his abdomen, which was drained on a daily basis in the last few weeks of his life. He also developed oedema in his lower body, which saw his weight increase from 65 to 82kg from water retention. Through all this discomfort he never complained, instead enjoying banter with the amazing district nurses who came to drain his rocket.

In the meantime Jack's liver biopsy was sent to California for further analysis, and this identified a mutation, FGFR2, that potentially opened up clinical trials and other therapy. Unfortunately Jack's liver function tests were out of range for the trial, and so Futibatinib, a relatively new drug not routinely available in the UK was obtained on compassionate grounds from the USA.

This arrived in the UK and was collected from London by Andrew on Monday 3 April, and Jack took his first dose at 11pm that evening. The next day Jack's condition deteriorated over the day significantly, and despite the best efforts of the district nurses, he passed away at 1834 on Tuesday 4 April. Two months after his 25 birthday, and 3 months after his initial cancer diagnosis.

Where did you meet Jack?

Jack spent his first year of life in India, and after a short spell in Derbyshire and Wiltshire, moved to Gloucester at about age 3.

Jack attend the King's School from nursery at the wonderful Wardle House, and left after Junior School to attend the boy's grammar school, Crypt. 

From the age of 5 Jack played rugby at Longlevens, invariably as hooker. He played rugby for Crypt. At this time he also took up fencing, windsurfing and Royal Marines Cadets. He became a mean guitarist under the amazing tutelage of Marcus Thurston (Vega guitarist).

Jack rose through the ranks in the Royal Marines Cadets and spent two years as the Lord Lieutenant's Cadet, supporting Dame Janet Trotter with engagements across the county, including a visit by The Queen and a number of engagements with the then Prince Charles.

Jack left Crypt to study A levels at Hartpury, where he developed his art style, turned 18, and recorded a CD, 'Drowning under street lights' with his cousin, Joe. (https://piquoricelapers.bandcamp.com/album/drowning-under-street-lights)

Cardiff beckoned, and Jack studied fine art, finding a love of stone lithography, living on a boat Celine at Cardiff Marina. He also started writing novellas and plays.

After university, Jack started picking up skills in the restaurant world, from Fino restaurants in Cardiff, to the Daffodil in Cheltenham, and even a brief stint at Wetherspoons in Gloucester.  

From there he decided to try out office work, pitching up at Ecotricity in Stroud. This piqued his interest in data, and he got his first IT role. He got into 3D printing and building robots from scratch for fun.

After being made redundant from Ecotricity he landed a plum role as a process analyst at Deutsche Bank - robots, process automation and other cool things - working with colleagues around the world, and out of offices in London and Birmingham.

Living with his cousin Conrad in Cheltenham, Jack long boarded round the park, cycled out into the local countryside, climbed Cleeve hill, and followed McLaren and Lando Norris in F1.

About AMMF

AMMF is doing all it can to raising the awareness of cholangiocarcinoma, to provide reliable, current information to those who need it, and to encourage and fund research into this devastating cancer.

But AMMF cannot do this without your support

• £15 could fund collecting and storing a biofluid sample for CCA research
• £50 could help to fund research into new CCA biomarkers for early diagnosis
• £100 could help to fund research into a treatment to beat CCA

Finally

Thanks for taking the time to visit Jack's JustGiving page. Please help us raise much needed funds in Jack's memory to help others to beat this disease.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.