Two years after being given months to live 'miracle' dad continues to defy cancer prognosis
A Telford dad has been called a "walking miracle" by his wife, after he was only given months to live – nearly two years ago.
Andre Timberlake-Evans has an incurable brain tumour and was told by doctors he would only had months left.
Andre and his partner of 12 years Maria then brought their wedding forward after receiving the devastating cancer news.
The happiest day of their life was tinged with sadness as they feared they could spend just one wedding anniversary together, but last weekend they celebrated two years of marriage.
Not long after the wedding the 41-year-old discovered that Maria, 33 was pregnant and all he wanted to do from that moment was live to see his daughter.
Now Gracie is 15-months old and walking and talking, and enjoying life at her home in Arleston with brother Max, 14, her parents and cocker spaniel Genghis.
Andre faces another operation after doctors discovered a small tumour on the back of his brain.
But he says he is just happy to be still fighting and enjoying quality time with his family.
The couple see Gracie as their miracle as when Andre was diagnosed, he and Maria were warned that if they conceived during his cancer treatment the baby could be at risk of abnormalities.
They were then given a three week time limit to conceive naturally and their dream came true.
Andre was then put on a programme of intensive chemotherapy in the hope it will buy him time to see the birth and watch his little girl grow up.
Then on June 29, 2014 Gracie was born and Andre was there to see it.
"It's incredible," he said. "I love just watching Gracie grow and seeing how she changes everyday. She is our little miracle.
"She's such a pretty little girl and she is always smiling and laughing and walking and talking in her own little language none of us understand."
Maria added: "He's my walking miracle. He went through a bad spell about 18-months ago and he was taken to the hospice and we thought he was gone.
"But he's still here and doing really well. We went for a scan last week, which is when we discovered there was another small tumour.
"We have contacted the doctors and we are expecting Andre to go for his operation in the next three to four weeks."
Andre added: "They told us to go away and think about it but I knew straight away that I was going to have the surgery.
"If it means I can recovery quicker and spend time with my family then it's worth it."
The couple celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary with a family trip to Llandudno.
Andre said: "It was lovely and Gracie loved it, she was running around and having a great time.
"We got to see the red supermoon lunar eclipse while we were there which was amazing."
Maria added: "It was great to get away as a family as well, and we are hoping to do more of that in the future. We want to do normal family things as much as we can.
"Gracie loved every minute of it though, and she was dancing along to Elvis at one of the arcades - I think she's a fan now.
"We have managed to take her to a few different baby groups and we took her to Water Babies at Hadley Learning Community, and they were brilliant.
"When they heard about our situation they gave us the sessions for free and were so accommodating so Andre could get involved."
The family are looking at the positives, despite the prospect of Andre's operation.
Maria said: "I know it's not the news we wanted but the fact they want to operate shows they still think he can pull through.
"When they no longer want to operate or help, then we can only expect the worse, so at the moment we are looking at the positives."
Andre added: "I feel like I'm doing well, but most days by about 2am I am nodding off and them at 11pm I'm up and ready to watch a film.
"However sometimes Maria is ready for bed. I love watching old romantic films and I find them easy to follow.
"We went to a concert the other week in Birmingham to watch Florence and the Machine, but with the radiotherapy I have received some things can be quite harsh on my ears.
"So I took my head phones to make it a bit easier and I had a great time. She was brilliant."
Maria added: "It was a great night out and the venue were great, we were in the disabled bit where there wasn't too many people so Andre could enjoy it.
"We don't get to go out too much as it can be too loud for Andre, but we try to do as much as we can."
So far Andre has responded well to treatment and the couple are hopeful this operation will go the same way.
His illness cannot be cured but doctors hope they can extend his life so that he can continue to enjoy the love of his family.
