A WELL-KNOWN busker has died less than a week after being diagnosed with four terminal cancers.

Musician John Kirby was a familiar sight on the streets of Brighton.

The week before last he was told he had pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, and glandular cancer.

Days earlier, the 48-year-old had gone into hospital thinking he had a stomach ulcer.

John, who performed under the name Zeb, had two daughters, aged 16 and 21.

John’s sister Angela McCulloch, from London, said: “We’re in shock. It was just so quick.

“He was very unwell. The doctors gave him three months to live. He passed very suddenly after learning he had multiple terminal cancers.

“It came as a devastating shock to us all. Unfortunately while we were still trying to process that his time left with us was going to be cut short, he succumbed to severe chest infections resulting in pneumonia.

“He was very confused on the ward. It got worse and he was struggling to breathe.

“We only had a few short hours to gather around as a family and say our goodbyes. John left us only a short hour later just after midnight last Tuesday. He passed peacefully as we held his hand.

“On the Friday we’d been talking about taking him home for palliative care.

“On the Monday I saw they’d removed the drip and the antibiotics. There was nothing to help him any more.”

Angela said John was known and loved by many in Brighton. “He was a character and he was well known on the streets,” she said.

“He played guitar, and he’d even done some busking to raise money for cancer research in the past. He loved Guns ’n’ Roses and Pink Floyd.”

John’s family are now trying to raise money for a funeral service, and have reached almost half of their £2,000 target on the fundraising website GoFundMe.

Angela said: “We are absolutely devastated and are struggling to find the funds to cover the cost of the service. It costs about £1,200 just to cremate a body without a service. I can’t bear the thought of it. We want a service so we can remember him with dignity.

“If we are able to reach our target, anything remaining will be put towards a memorial celebration afterwards. We are so very grateful for every donation during this difficult time.”

You can donate via GoFundMe.com: https://www.gofundme.com/f/to-cremate-with-a-service?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet