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The family of a UK man is sharing his brutal struggle with the “silent killer” pancreatic cancer, which progressed to stage 4 before he showed a single symptom.
When Michael Armishaw, 43, began to experience stomach pain in September 2025, “we thought it was just a stomach bug, gallstones or issues with his liver,” his sister, Claire, said, according to Daily Mail. “After a couple of weeks, his symptoms got worse.”
Michael, who hails from Nottinghamshire in the U.K., went to the doctor, who agreed it was likely gallstones, but ran tests just to be sure. Instead of treatable gallstones, Michael was told he had pancreatic cancer — and that it had metastasized to the point where it was stage 4.
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“We were all in shock,” said Claire. “You’re not expecting to be diagnosed with cancer as he wasn’t really that old and he was devastated when he found out. We were numb. They call it the silent killer as symptoms don’t appear until late on.”
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating cancers, as it generally doesn’t show symptoms until it’s too far advanced. As PanCAN explains, even when it’s discovered only in the pancreas, the five-year survival rate is 44%. For all types of pancreatic cancer, the five-year survival rate is 13%.
“It’s unbelievable really,” Claire said. “To go from showing symptoms to being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in just weeks.”
The news came just a year after their father had died of lung cancer. “Michael felt guilty about getting cancer because of what we’d been through as a family. He kept apologizing, saying he didn’t want us to go through it all again. But we, of course, told him it wasn’t his fault and we loved him,” Claire said.
Although Michael underwent chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer continued to spread, and by November, was in his brain. On April 18, he had a devastating seizure, and on April 26, Michael died surrounded by his family.
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“We’re devastated by losing both Michael and my father in such a short space of time,” said Claire, who is raising money for Michael’s services via a GoFundMe, given “how expensive a funeral is.”
“He didn’t realise how much we all loved him,” she said. “I’m hoping in death he certainly does now.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Claire Armishaw for more information.
