Lancaster student, 21, dies after 'almost impossible' diagnosis as 'last wish' granted

A brave Lancashire student whose final wish touched the world has died after an "almost impossible" cancer diagnosis.

Alexandra Angeles Caycho, a Fine Art and Design graduate from Lancaster University, tragically passed away after raising £165,000 for her final journey back to her home country, Peru. The 21-year-old initially believed she was dealing with a rugby injury before receiving the devastating diagnosis of stage three pancreatic cancer.

This summer, doctors informed her that she had only 'days to weeks left to live'. Earlier this month, Alexandra's 'last wish' was fulfilled as she managed to return to Peru after several expensive medically-assisted flights, allowing her to spend her final days surrounded by family.

READ MORE: Boxer who 'sparred with Tyson Fury' killed a man after he descended into drug dealing

Her boyfriend announced the heartbreaking news on Saturday (September 14) that Alexandra had sadly passed away. In an update on the GoFundMe online fundraising page, Dylan said: "Struggling to put it into words, Alex passed away at 12 30 am local time on the 14th September with loved ones by her side.

"Alex's family and close friends ask for privacy at this moment in time."

Alex moved from Peru to Lancaster, where she went to university to study in 2021. She first started suffering from pain last year.

She explained how her bowel movements then changed and 'things got weird', the M.E.N reports. Alex's health soon started to deteriorate - her eyes turned yellow and she couldn't sit for long - before she went to A&E where she was told she could have a problem with her liver.

She was sent to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool after finding out that the cancer had developed to stage four. Writing about her diagnosis, she said: "The doctors were shocked; they told me it was almost impossible for someone my age to have this disease."

Alex, who graduated from university this year and planned to do a masters degree, was discharged from hospital to spend time at home with her mum, Linda, and Dylan. She returned for chemotherapy just days later but it was stopped when she threw up blood.

She said: "They [the doctors] decided to pause everything and put me back in the ward. I was there for two weeks and they told me I had internal bleeding from the cancer, they said there was nothing much they could do and that I have days to weeks left to live.

"I've tried to stay strong and to keep fighting with everything I have, but unfortunately my journey is coming to an end. I'm too tired most days to do anything; I suffer with swelling, the swelling has got so bad I have gained ten kilos of fluid and my body is too weak to deal with that immense weight gain.

"I suffer from back pain. Most days I spend my time in bed trying to eat and drink water if I can."

Alex's final wish was to be able to go home to Peru to see her dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles for one last time and to spend her final moments in a place where she 'feels at peace'. However, the cost of Alex being able to get home in an air ambulance was estimated to be around £150,000, which the family could not afford - so, together with her friends, she set up an online fundraiser.

Earlier this month, an update posted on the GoFundMe page explained that, because of Alex's condition, the flight may need to operate at a lower altitude, which increases fuel consumption and may require additional stops. The fundraising target was then increased to £200,000 to cover these extra expenses with any additional funds going towards other costs such as for the funeral.

On September 1, Alex started her journey back to Peru which involved four stops. Two days later, an update on the GoFundMe page confirmed that Alex had arrived safely home in Peru and was surrounded by her loved ones 'in the place she wanted to be most'.

Last week, Alex's boyfriend shared an update on the page. In the post, Dylan said: "I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for the amazing support that helped get Alex back to Peru. Your generous donations made this possible, and we're incredibly grateful."

Dylan shared the sad news that Alex had passed away at 12.30am local time on Saturday in another post that day.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbox