A dad has been told he has only 15 months left to live after headaches led to a terminal brain cancer diagnosis.

Self-employed groundworker Rick Smith began suffering from chronic pain in February but after only a month of issues, he has been told his condition is terminal.

Fiancé Katrina Binfield said: “He started getting constant headaches for a couple of weeks.

“We thought at first it may have been a virus. I was ill just before but his lasted longer than mine.

“He is a hardworking man and never takes time off, but he was starting to call in sick and just sit around the house.

“I said to him ‘Rick this isn’t you’ and ‘we need to get you looked at’.”

The 39-year-old from Thistle Hill in Minster, Sheppey, went to the doctor but was told to drink more water but the headaches persisted.

The couple then went to Maidstone Hospital in the hopes of being seen but after waiting for several hours, the father-of-three and stepfather to a fourth, grew impatient and wanted to go home.

The pain continued so Katrina took him for an eye test on March 2 during which the optometrist saw blood behind the retina and told him to go back to Maidstone Hospital.

He had a CT scan that evening and was seen by a doctor who referred him to King’s College Hospital in London.

Staff there told him he had an inoperable butterfly glioblastoma on the left side of his brain.

Katrina added: “They told us the median life expectancy with this is around 15 months and they said they needed to do a biopsy – that he is booked in for Friday (March 15) – to decide on treatment.

“However, any treatment they do will only be to prolong his life.”

The news has rocked the family as Rick is the main breadwinner and during Covid cancelled his life insurance policy.

Katrina said: “I’m scared. We have three children and a mortgage.

“Life insurance was like £60 a month and we were going through finances and we said ‘oh we’ll cancel that and pick it back up’.

“It never got sorted out again and you kick yourself but we have been a team all this time and we are still a team now.

“I’m up and down with my emotions at the moment. Some days I’m ready, I’m like ‘let’s fight this; I’m not being told by a stranger you have 15 months left’, then other days the realisation hits you.

“Rick’s been amazing and so strong and he’s such a strong person anyway. He’s had a few breakdowns like anyone would but he has been really strong over this.”

The couple’s boys are Louis, eight, Karson, five, and Arlo, two. His stepson is 15-year-old Roman.

The make-up artist said: “I only told the eldest two children about what’s going on the other night.

“They know he’s been unwell but I was a bit worried telling them as Louis especially is sensitive but he came to me and hugged me and said ‘it’s OK mummy, daddy is going to be fine’.

“I haven’t told them how long he has left though; they’re too young to understand that.”

Since getting the diagnosis, the family have had messages of support flood in from loved ones.

Close friend Alissa Triance set up a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising £50,000 to help pay for private treatment, as well as fund Rick’s 40th birthday and the couple’s wedding.

Since being made live on Wednesday, it had raised around £32,700 through 1,001 donations at the time of writing.

Alissa said: “They are devastated and heartbroken. Their youngest son will grow up not knowing who his father was.

“I’ve known Katrina for two to three years. We shared mutual friends and she did my make-up for an event once and we just hit it off.

“She is worrying so much about what is going to happen but I said to her ‘Kat don’t worry about it we’ll sort Rick’s birthday and we’ll do what we can for your wedding’.”

Katrina is also sharing their journey on TikTok where she hopes to raise awareness for other families who may be going through similar issues.

The 41-year-old said: “I have been overwhelmed by the amount of messages that have come in showing how many people care.

“It’s nice to know people care when you’re going through something.

“At first I was ‘I don’t like the thought of strangers being asked for money’.

“We’re a proud family and we both work hard but my friends said ‘Kat sometimes you have to take the help and do your thing’.

“You can’t keep saying ‘no’ to people who want to help.”