e-newsletter

Sign up for our
e-newsletter

Sign up

'Girls, I've got cancer' - Why Sarah Lees is running for us...

Sarah Lees is one of our Virgin 2012 London Marathon runners.  Her father was diagnosed with Prostate cancer in early 2005.  Initially he decided to keep it from his daughters whilst they went through important stages of schooling but that summer when they found out Sarah said she ‘felt physically sick and to hear the words “Girls I’ve got cancer” made me think he was going to die’

Luckily for Sarah’s father, Philip, he had keyhole surgery – the first of its kind at the hospital where he was treated– and has been clear for the past few years.  Here is Philip’s story: 

At the age of 9 years old I remember one evening being taken to see my father who was 45 years old lying in bed having great difficulty in breathing. He had undergone two major operations for cancer reducing him from 18 stone to less than 6 stone. On this particular evening my mother said to say goodbye to Dad. Next morning when I woke up he had died. The thought of Cancer has
lived with me for my entire life as I saw the misery and upset it can cause to a family. Choosing to retire early and children going off to university was all planned until I had a routine blood test
which indicated I had prostate cancer. Further tests confirmed this. Regardless of how many people said "Don’t worry it will be fine" my mind and thoughts always went back to my childhood.
 
The difficult decision was how doI tell my three daughters, doing this was really hard, but once done I felt relieved that I could talk about my problem openly. I was fortunate that I had so many options offered to me for the methods of treatment which was so confusing at first but eventually I decided to have keyhole surgery. My operation was at the North Staffordshire Hospital. I was the first patient at this hospital to have this key hole surgery operation. The surgeon could have been my son he was so young but reassured me that his boss from Birmingham was going to oversee the operation. Four days later I was discharged and spent several weeks recovering. Several years on I have my annual blood test and lead a very normal active life.
 
The research and development which has taken place since my childhood is remarkable. When Sarah, my daughter, said she was going to run the London Marathon I thought she could not walk 26 miles let alone run it! The effort and determination she is putting into her training makes me very proud especially as she is doing this to raise money in aid of PCRC. With the research and dedication given by so many people, we may one day overcome the problems of Prostate cancer. Sarah has a lot of plans to achieve her target - she has asked her hockey team to don PCRC t-shirts and give up an hour or two of their time to go out and collect money from unsuspecting members of the London public, she has written to all her friends and family asking them to sponsor her or make a donation, she is planning an event at her place of work with an own clothes day and is organising a colleague sweepstake. A car boot sale, 'Blue Day' in her vintage business she runs with her sister and local business advertising/sponsorship deals to name a few will surely make this whole process a huge success.

I will certainly be at the finishing post on April 22nd cheering everyone on and if you are asked to sponsor a runner then please, please do so as the saying goes 'Every Little Helps!'.

Sarah told us it was tough while her father was ill but he never complained once nor got angry or frustrated.  It was his bravery during this very difficult time that made Sarah determined to do something for all of those who helped her and her family and to raise money for a charity researching an eventual cure for prostate cancer.

Sarah said “Prostate cancer needs to be highlighted and needs funding so that people like my father can get the help, support and treatment they need.  Without charities like yours I wouldn’t have my father still with me today.”

To support Sarah and her marathon run please <clickhere>

Sarah and her sister also have a vintage shop in Sheffield they are planning to hold a ‘Blue Day’ at to raise more funds www.sarahsvintagewendyhouse.com