Family of Sheffield firefighter make emotional appeal to save his life

The family of a firefighter from Sheffield who spent 10 years saving lives says he now urgently needs help to save his own.

Stefan Hawcroft has been given just four weeks to live after his brain tumour suddenly became aggressive.

He was rushed to hospital in January on his 29th birthday, and has since deteriorated to the point where he can no longer walk or talk properly.

His family says doctors have told him no further treatment is available on the NHS, and that he has just a few weeks to live.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” says Stefan’s sister Emma Hawcroft.

“We even had a biopsy done in October and it came back saying the tumour would never turn aggressive. Even on Christmas Day, he was totally normal.

“What really frustrates you is that he’s 29, he’s a fireman, he’s saved lives for ten years. He would do anything to help anybody. So outgoing, so sporty, always doing five-a-sides alongside his work.

“But he is the most positive person in the world. He keeps telling everybody he’s going to make it.

“I get married in six weeks and he keeps saying ‘I’m going to make it, I’ll be alright’.”

Stefan is from Sheffield and worked as a firefighter in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

He was due to marry his fiancée Rebecca in Cyprus in 2019, but Emma says they brought the wedding forward and were married under special license in February.

“We actually got a letter written from Weston Park saying due to circumstances, we need to pull the wedding forward. So we actually got it done within the week.

“It was a happy day because he wants to be married, he wants to have that life and make Rebecca his wife. So we did it and it was a lovely day, but obviously sad reasons behind it.”

The family has now launched a fundraising campaign to pay for potentially life-saving immunotherapy treatment in London or Germany.