The family of a man diagnosed with an extremely rare type of cancer have been astounded by the "incredible" community response to a fundraising appeal.

Zak Bircham, 31, from Lowestoft will soon undergo his second operation in the space of a couple of months after being diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer.

The cancer was originally found in his appendix in January this year, but has since spread to his bowel and colon.

Mr Bircham is now due to have a life changing operation to try and remove the neuroendocrine tumour (NET).

With his fiancée Stacy Dawes and his entire family still coming to terms with this "massive shock", the father-of-two young girls is now preparing for "extensive treatment" that includes lots of time in and out of hospital and out of work.

With "a long road ahead", his family launched a GoFundMe appeal on Monday last week highlighting 'Zak Bircham’s NET cancer fight' as they aimed to ease the "massive pressure" that the diagnosis had caused.

It said: "Zak and his fiancée Stacy have two young amazing girls - Olivia, five, and Rosie, three - who both love their daddy more than life itself.

"Unfortunately Zak and Stacy do not have life insurance and therefore are about to experience huge financial difficulty now and over the upcoming months and years.

"This is a huge stress and worry for the young family, who not only now have to deal with the fact their entire lives are going to change but that they may also lose their house they have worked so hard for."

With friends and the community rallying round to donate, offer support and messages, while sharing the appeal to raise awareness of "this awful disease", it led to £11,560 being raised in just three days.

The family has now hailed the "incredible" support of the community as they closed donations to the fundraising page on the back of a remarkable response.

In heart-warming posts on the GoFundMe page online - which is being kept open to raise further awareness of the disease - Stacy Dawes said: "We are completely and utterly lost for words. The feeling of love and comfort from you all is just incredible - we are so, so grateful.

"Thank you to every single one of you from the bottom of our hearts - you have lifted a massive pressure off of us and I can now take the time off I need to spend with my precious family and take care of Zak whilst he recovers from his impending operation and treatment."