York City's Paddy McLaughlin helps York and Harrogate dad

Midfielder Paddy McLaughlin will be taking part in a charity football match to help raise money for 36-year-old Adam Gray in June.

Adam, is from York and now lives in Harrogate with his wife Chrissy and children Amelie, three and seven-month-old Wilf.

He first featured in The Press back in 2020 when he was told that he had between six to 12 months to live, while Chrissy was pregnant with Amelie. He was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, a rare and incurable tumour that has spread to his lungs, liver and into his lymph nodes.

Adam, Chrissy, Amelie and Wilf Gray (Image: Adam Gray)

Having been given an original prognosis of three to six months, Adam embarked on a huge amount of research which led to him to starting an incredibly strict diet and a regime of countless pills and supplements, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

In the Autumn last year he had the most amazing scan results which showed that the tumours he had to begin with were not there and that he was in remission.

However, sadly, over Christmas, after a routine check up, doctors found that the tumours had returned again and he is now back in the battle of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as trying to raise money for additional treatment that is not covered through the NHS.

As The Press reported back in February, Adam's brother-in-law, Ollie Hewitt, who is married to Adam's sister, Pip, is organising a 24-hour fundraising family event with a 24 hour six-a-side charity football matches in order to raise money for Adam's treatments.

It will take place on the weekend of June 2 and 3, and will run from 6pm on the Friday until 6pm the following day.

Ollie Hewitt at Millthorpe School in York (Image: Ollie Hewitt)

Ollie, who along with Pip, is a teacher at Wilberfoss Primary School, and lives in Fulford, has booked out the sports hall at Millthorpe School where Adam and Chrissy met and went to school.

He said: "Amazingly Paddy has said he's happy to play. He’s booked in for 8am at the moment and then will be staying afterwards to do some signings and to hand out some certificates to the children playing in the subsequent spots.

"As well as the continuous football, there will be refreshments with a York Gin stall, freshly-made pizzas on Saturday, and a bouncy castle and activities for kids."

Paddy in action on the pitch

Adam said: "We want it to be a real family day, and all in all we are trying to get as many people involved as possible because every penny helps at the moment."

He explained that the idea behind the event is to raise as much money as possible for him to have Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) in India as earlier plans to have the treatment in Germany had become too expensive.

The treatment gives a high dose of radiation to the cancer, but little to the surrounding tissues and Adam will need several rounds so he may need upwards of £50,000 in the long run.

Adam is set to fly out for his first treatment later this month.

The family has launched a website for people to book their slots for the football here.

There's a donation of £10 or more to play and there's a JustGiving page to make the donation for booking here.