A 30-year-old man believed he had a sporting injury when he began to feel a strange sensation in his leg, but a lump that later emerged would turn out to be an aggressive and rare type of cancer.
Abeeku Lewis from Halifax had become an avid runner in lockdown and by 2022, he would set off on a jog twice a week, as well as heading to the gym and playing football.
Whilst on one of his runs he felt a sharp pain in his leg, assuming he had tore his muscle, he rested for a week or so, however a lump began to form above his left knee.
Still thinking he had incurred a nasty sporty injuring, Abeeku headed to his physiotherapist, where they performed an aspiration to drain the fluid from the mass that had emerged on his thigh.
But around six weeks later, the lump returned at a slightly bigger size and following an ultrasound and a referral to Spire Manchester Hospital, he was diagnosed with rare and aggressive type of cancer known as sarcoma on December 2022.
‘It’s quite ironic but at the time I probably felt the healthiest ever in terms of my physical fitness,’ he told MailOnline.
Less than two percent of those diagnosed with cancer every year have a sarcoma, according to Sarcoma UK, making it a very rare form of the disease.
Following his diagnosis, Abeeku had a tumultuous few years when it came to his health, undergoing several and ‘intense’ rounds of chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy.
And after a reduction in the cancer cells within his body, the brave young musician had major surgery to remove the sarcoma, which saw one of his quad muscles removed entirely.
Abeeku Lewis, 30, believed he had pulled a muscle when he began to feel pain in his leg. Sadly the injury turned out to be saracoma cancer
The drummer was very sporty and felt he was in the ‘best physical fitness’ before his shock diagnosis
Now the bubbly young creative is pursuing private treatment after all NHS treatments have unfortunately failed to get rid of his cancer (pictured with his doting partner Nieve)
CLICK HERE FOR ABEEKU’S GOFUNDME
The young musician has also released an EP to raise funds for private medical healthcare in a bid to save his life.
His EP ‘I see you lurking’ can also found here.
Although the operation went well, further chemotherapy treatment didn’t prove fruitful and after a trip to Chester Zoo for his ‘wonderful’ girlfriend, Nieve’s 25th birthday, tragedy struck once again.
Later that night, Abeeku began to experience extremely intense headaches and was unable to open his eye – symptoms which later turned out to be a brain tumour as well as a bleed on the brain, leaving him worried he could ‘lose memories’ forever.
And although it was successfully treated by ‘amazing’ NHS staff, who tirelessly helped Abeeku battle his cancer, the young musician was told in February that the disease had significantly spread – reaching his trachea and windpipe.
Describing the moment he was pulled into the room he dubbed ‘the death room’ on Valentines Day, he said: ‘It’s really not fun, because it was unfortunately on Valentine’s day, February the 14th. Me and Nieve had planned to go on a nice meal.
‘[And] in the end we get we get pulled into – it’s not the most tactful of ways to describe it – but in essence, it’s kind of like the death room in the hospital.
He added: ‘The doctor pulled us to one side and was like, “I’m really sorry. The cancer spread to the point where we don’t know if you can leave the hospital.
‘”You need immediate medical supervision at all times.” So that was quite scary.’
In a final attempt to save his life and become cancer free, they decided to pursue a tablet form of chemotherapy, which unfortunately did not prove effective for the promising young creative.
Despite a difficult journey, Abeeku remains positive and has praised the NHS as well as his supportive friends and family (pictured with his girlfriend Nieve, his sister Keturah and his mother Susie)
The young musician has undergone several rounds of intense radio and chemotherapy, but now the cancer has spread to his trachea and windpipe (pictured with Nieve)
Now he is seeking private medical healthcare not offered on the NHS in a final bid to save his life (pictued with his mother, Susie)
‘It sounds bleak, but I am at that point again. My oncologist, who has been absolutely phenomenal and my doctor who has been sublime, have unfortunately said, “We have exacerbated all treatment options”,’ Abeeku said.
‘And they have said if we don’t do anything, I’ve probably got weeks to live. He basically told me, “We’re we’re kind of done, unfortunately.” Which again, was pretty hard to hear’
Not one to back down, courageous Abeeku is determined to seek out all available treatment options during his ongoing battle with the disease, and has since launched a GoFundMe to pursue private medical care.
‘It’s been a lot to digest so we began speaking to private medical doctors in the background to get second opinions and see what was going on,’ he said.
Currently Abeeku is undergoing chemotherapy treatment via the NHS, in what he describes as a ‘the last roll of the dice’, but he has been looking at another form chemo known as FGFR1, which is not available via public healthcare.
‘Once we’ve done once this chemotherapy and its reached the end of its cycle, whether that’s due to it no longer working, or I think there potentially might be a limit in which my body can take,’ he said.
‘The GoFundMe is to be able to pursue the the routes that can only be done privately.’
Recalling the final time before the word cancer entered his life, he explained how he sat next to his doting mother, Susie, eating a curry.
‘My oncologist, who has been absolutely phenomenal and my doctor who has been sublime, have unfortunately said, “We have exacerbated all treatment options”,’ Abeeku said (Pictured from left to right: Friends, Harriet, Arley, Abeeku, Tara and Sidone)
Prior to his cancer diagnosis, Abeeku was extremely active, running and hitting the gym often as well as going to football practice
Currently Abeeku is undergoing chemotherapy treatment via the NHS, in what he describes as a ‘the last roll of the dice’ (pictured left to right: Best friends, Jordan, Abeeku and Elliot)
‘It was one of two ways it was going to go, and I was very much kind of trying to prepare myself,’ he said.
‘We went for a curry before, and I remember just being like, “Mum, this might be the last curry or the last meal I ever have before getting told I have cancer, and then everything will forever be different.”
After his initial diagnosis he revealed he felt ‘lost’, adding: ‘[Before] I felt relatively fit and healthy. I never assumed it would be anything so severe or sinister. It was just obviously an immediate shock.
He added: ‘The hardest part for me probably has been opening up and telling people how poorly I am doing.’
‘Just let people know how sick I am and how I’m kind of at the end of life in essence. I hate saying out loud, but in essence I’m dying.
‘Having to acknowledge that and say it aloud and let everyone know my business was really hard.’
‘But the one thing I can say kind of is the support network I have around me in terms of my friends, my family, and even the doctors, immediately kind of trying to be reassuring, did help put me at ease.’
‘Just let people know how sick I am and how I’m kind of at the end of life in essence. I hate saying out loud, but in essence I’m dying,’ Abeeku said of his cancer journey (pictured with his mother and sister)
The young and talented musician has since launched a GoFundMe and an EP in a bid to raise money for private medical treatment to attempt one last face off with cancer
He explained that the support and positivity from across the globe have help to keep him determined as ever to battle the cancer.
‘The support I’ve got in terms of messages of just positivity. People have reached out from school that I haven’t not spoke to in 20 odd years, and even people that I’ve met on nights out once,’ he said.
‘Knowing so many people of like a genuinely kind of like supporting me and fighting my corner, it’s it’s given me like this spring in my step.
‘I think mentally, it really pushed me forward and has given me this determination to keep battling – like an extra boost. I feel like there’s like hundreds of people like holding me up off the ground.’
To donate to Abeeku’s GoFundMe click here. He also has a song which is available to listen to here, with proceeds going towards his medical treatment.