Miracle baby conceived days before chemotherapy left dad infertile

His girlfriend Maxine Campbell, 22, and Simon believe their surprise baby was ‘fate’ - after chemotherapy - which left Simon unable to have children - began just weeks later.

The sales assistant endured months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy whilst Maxine’s bump grew - but despite being unwell he attended every appointment and scan.

Maxine was 37 weeks’ pregnant when Simon was given the good news that he is cancer-free.

Baby Mateo was born two weeks ago and is now home in Margate, Kent, with his adoring parents.

Proud Simon said: “Having your first child is supposed to be a happy and exciting time in any couples lives and we feel that was robbed from us.

“While most mums and dads to be are excited picking out the nursery theme and buying babygrows, our impending arrival was almost the last thing on our minds.

“We were driving back and forth to hospital appointments and I was having chemotherapy and worrying about whether I was going to be around to see Maxine give birth.

“Maxine was terrified she was going to lose me and that our son would grow up without a dad.

“But having her and the baby to focus on while I was battling cancer willed me to beat the disease and get better for their sake.

“We know we’ll probably never be able to have any more children as the chemotherapy has made me infertile.

“But despite it all, we feel incredibly blessed to have our miracle, surprise baby after all we’ve been through.”

Maxine, a former nanny, said: “It’s been the toughest but the happiest year of our lives.

“I am so relieved Simon is much better and Mateo being born marks a new chapter for us.”

Simon started to feel unwell in June 2017 after suffering from numbness in his face and severe toothache, before a lump the size of a golf ball appeared inside his mouth.

He visited the dentist and his GP and was even referred to the optician over the swelling. He was initially told it was a dental abscess and was given antibiotics.

He ignored his symptoms, dosing up on painkillers and using numbing gel for a few months, before Maxine dragged him to hospital.

“The pain become so severe, I just had to get some help,” he said.

“I assumed it was just a dental abscess and that it would go away naturally, but after months of agony I had no choice but to go to hospital.”

Doctors in A&E warned it could be serious and a consultant had him admitted straight away, telling the couple it could be cancer, on December 18 last year.

Maxine had only discovered she was three weeks pregnant the day before - and told him that day.

“Even though I heard the ‘C’ word I didn’t think it would be that,” he said.

Simon’s consultant confirmed that he had stage 4 Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on January 2 and he started a course of chemotherapy just one week later.

He had 11 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 radiotherapy sessions.

He added: “I wanted to look after Maxine and be there for her whilst she was pregnant, but it ended up being the other way around.

“She had to drive me to all of my hospital appointments and look after me when I was at home.