22-year-old given year to live after stomach ache turned out to be extremely rare cancer
A 22-year-old poker dealer has been told he has less than a year to live after what he thought was a simple stomach ache turned out to be a devastatingly rare form of cancer.
Nickodemus Dacres, from Croydon, south London, started experiencing severe stomach pain during a shift in July 2024.
When he went to use the bathroom, blood came out instead of urine, and he was rushed to hospital by a colleague.
After months of tests, doctors eventually found a small tumor on his right kidney.
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By the time he received an official diagnosis in February 2025, it was confirmed as stage four medullary renal cell carcinoma (RMC), one of the most aggressive and least understood kidney cancers in existence, and the disease had already spread to his lymph nodes and lungs.
What is medullary renal cell carcinoma?
According to the Ricky Casey Trust, a charity dedicated to the disease, RMC is so uncommon that its true global prevalence isn't even known, with existing medical literature drawn from small case studies amounting to fewer than 400 recorded cases worldwide.
Nickodemus's mother, Donna Dacres, 59, says she has been told her son's cancer is shared by just nine other people in the entire UK.
Donna, who is originally from Jamaica, said the diagnosis floored her family.
"No one in our family is ever sick," she said. "When I asked the doctor why we were going down there he said it was stage four cancer. I was really stunned. I am from Caribbean people and it is very rare that we deal with such a disease."
In December 2024, surgeons removed Nickodemus's kidney along with several lymph nodes for testing, but the tumor kept growing and the pain worsened.
He was placed on chemotherapy immediately, with doctors warning that if it failed to work, he would have less than a year left to live.
Despite treatment, the cancer has since spread further, into his liver and bones.
Nickodemus has now spent two consecutive months in hospital, battling constant pain and vomiting that has left him unable to eat properly for weeks, and his weight has dropped from 74kg to under 55kg.
Because his cancer is so rare, the targeted chemotherapy that could shrink his tumors isn't routinely funded by the NHS.
His family says the treatment costs £8,000 every 28 days, a total exceeding £50,000, and they began the course last week.
Donna described watching her once 'bubbly' son deteriorate as unbearable.
"As a mum, nothing prepares you for watching your child suffer knowing there is so little you can do to take the pain away," she said. 'I cry every single day.'
The family has launched a GoFundMe page in a bid to fund the treatment, which has so far raised over £10,000 toward the total needed.
Donna said turning to strangers for help has been one of the hardest parts of the ordeal.
"We have always tried to face life's challenges together as a family, but this is something we simply cannot do alone," she said.
Thomas Bamford