‘My son died from cancer caused by stomach-eating bug after he travelled’

Zak Wilcox decided to take a trip of a lifetime, backpacking across India aged 19. In the final week of his trip, as he returned home to Bath, Zak fell ill with persistent sickness and diarrhoea that lasted for three weeks. In 2021, at the age of 40, just three months after receiving the devastating news of his stomach cancer diagnosis, Zak died in 2021.

His mother, Rebecca Wilcox, 77, believes his cancer was caused by an infection from a stomach-eating bug called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which she suspects he contracted during his travels in India all those years ago.

She told the Mirror: “If he had known he should have taken a test for H. pylori on his return from a gap year trip to India, where over 80 per cent of the population carry this bug, he would still be here today.

“The bug bores away into the lining of the stomach for years, sometimes decades, before it becomes fatal. The symptoms of stomach cancer are either non-existent or so mild people pass them off as indigestion until it is too late.”

According to the National Library of Medicine, approximately 90 percent of non-cardia stomach cancer cases worldwide can be attributed to H. pylori infection.

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The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recognises H. pylori as one of the most common chronic bacterial infections globally, with about two-thirds of the world’s population infected. The infection is more prevalent in developing countries, particularly in Asia and South America.

While short-term travellers are generally at low risk of acquiring the bug, expatriates and long-stay travellers may face a higher risk. The National Cancer Institute states chronic H. pylori infection leads to long-lasting inflammation, which can eventually contribute to certain types of cancer.

However, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) states H. pylori is not only present abroad but also in the UK. Therefore, there is currently no data suggesting travel itself is a risk factor for acquiring the infection.

Rebecca says Zak was meticulous about hygiene during his backpacking days, diligently washing his hands and avoiding tap water. At the time, he believed he had contracted a bug from contaminated food, as it could have been washed with tap water.

Fast forward 20 years, and Rebecca vividly recalls Zak complaining about indigestion with foods that never used to trouble him, such as crumpets, during the period from 2015 to 2019 when he lived with her again. Then, in September 2020, Zak, a talented software engineer, began experiencing more severe stomach pain.

Rebecca says Zak’s GP initially prescribed nothing for his symptoms. However, when he returned in October 2020, an endoscopy was scheduled for January of the following year. Unfortunately, by November, Zak was rushed to the hospital in excruciating pain. Various scans revealed his stomach cancer just three weeks later.

Tragically, Zak never made it to his scheduled endoscopy appointment as his condition rapidly deteriorated.

Rebecca said: “It was totally devastating. Hearing he had cancer hit me in the gut with a baseball bat. I couldn’t believe it – he was apparently fit and healthy, had a good diet, and only drank socially. It was terrible.”

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Given the aggressive nature of Zak’s cancer and the potential damage chemotherapy could cause to his immune system, doctors informed him that he had between two to five months to live and advised against surgery. As the cancer progressed, Rebecca said her “kind, funny, brilliant” son became frail after rapidly losing weight.

Rebecca said: “It was very aggressive. He lost weight at such a rate. He was disappearing before our eyes, tired all the time. He was getting weaker and weaker. By the new year, we got him an electric scooter to get around, he just got worse and worse.”

In January 2021, Zak underwent surgery to remove the cancer that had blocked his stomach. However, due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, he was unable to have any visitors during his hospital stay. Initially, it seemed like the surgery had been successful, but tragically, Zak returned home only to die a few weeks later.

Devastated by Zak’s sudden death on March 9, Rebecca fought for biopsies to be tested to determine if her family carried any genetic predisposition for the cancer. The wait for the test results was excruciating, as they feared that another family member might be at risk. Finally, a year later in February 2022, the tests came back negative, providing some relief to the grieving family.

Rebecca firmly believes if Zak had taken an H. pylori test upon his return from India all those years ago, their lives would have taken a different course. She has since launched a campaign to raise awareness about a £7 test that can detect the presence of the bug. Additionally, if individuals experience symptoms related to H. pylori infection, the test is available through the NHS.

She said: “I know a test could have saved him. It’s a reasonable test with antibiotics to treat it. They [Government and agencies] aren’t warning about it in advice for travellers. They warn you about specific areas if you need malaria pills, and warn you about diarrhoea…. this bug slowly eats away at the stomach and buries into the lining, it doesn’t like stomach acid, so you might not know you have it.

“If only he had been warned about the dangers of this bug, which the WHO has declared a class 1 carcinogen, he would certainly have taken a test for it and would still be here now. Some simple information would have saved his life. But there was no information and he is gone. On behalf of Zak, I want to let others know that a cheap test could save their lives.”

For Rebecca, finding solace in raising awareness about this silent killer is a way to honour Zak’s memory. She said he was always eager to help others, dedicating his skills as a software engineer to develop software that assisted the visually impaired by translating online text into Braille. He was passionate about environmental issues and had even registered as an organ donor, although his cancer prevented him from fulfilling that wish.

She added: “He wanted to do good. He had a donor card because he wanted to help others. This is his way of doing it.

“I ask the Government to ensure that the NHS and appropriate government-backed bodies include warnings about the risks of catching HP, and the availability of cheap tests, on all sites providing Health Advice for Travellers, and publish these widely wherever possible throughout the NHS.”

The UKHSA collaborates with organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop testing guidelines. While testing every traveller for H. pylori infection is not recommended, current guidance advises clinicians to consider testing individuals with symptoms that do not respond to standard stomach acid suppression treatments or those who come from high-risk or endemic countries.

This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up http://Express.co.uk ’s editorial research. A news editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected].

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