Roger Sharp remembers the last time he saw his paternal grandfather. He was six years old at the time and can recall his grandfather lying in a bed in a downstairs room at his grandparents’ small terraced house in Luton. It’s the only memory he has of his grandfather, who died a few days later.

Roger was protected from the fall out of his grandfathers’ death the way children were in those days. He did not know what his grandfather had died of or how his death would impact on his own health years later.

In the intervening years before Roger’s own health took a turn for the worse Roger followed his dream of joining the police force. He enrolled as a police cadet at Luton aged just 16. When he retired from the force in 1992 he had risen to the rank of superintendent and held the position of deputy divisional commander at Luton Police Station.

Some time before retiring Roger had started to look into his family history and discovered that his grandfather had actually died of prostate cancer. “Finding this out and knowing my father had had a benign enlargement of his prostate made me feel it was almost inevitable that I too would have problems of a similar nature,” he said.

The cause of his grandfather’s death started to play unduly on Roger’s mind. He became convinced that the same cancer lurked in his own body. He became worried enough to see his doctor with what he thought were prostate problems as early as 1989, not sure whether the symptoms he was experiencing were real or imagined. A digital rectal examination and a flow test showed nothing untoward and Roger felt reassured but still anxious about the possibility that cancer might be present.

Roger’s symptoms continued, mild at first but becoming more pronounced over time. He needed to urinate more often and with an increased sense of urgency. On a few occasions he became concerned he might not be able to ‘hold on’ long enough before finding a toilet. He also noticed a narrower jet when he passed water.

In the spring of 2000 Roger returned to his GP. A urine flow test indicated he might have an enlarged prostate which could be putting pressure on his urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder). Roger was scheduled to undergo a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), an operation to remove tissue from the part of the prostate that might be pinching his urethra. Any tissue removed usually goes off for analysis. Since a TURP procedure is more often carried out for benign non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, a common condition as men get older, Roger was not unduly worried.

However when a few days later Roger got a call from his surgeon asking him to come in to discuss the results of the biopsy alarm bells rang. His beloved grandson was aged just six, the same age he had been when his grandfather had died. Was history repeating itself?

The surgeon sat Roger and his wife down and sensitively and compassionately told them that the biopsy taken during the TURP procedure had shown he had a cancerous tumour in his prostate. The news came as a devastating blow. They returned home to tell their three daughters and other family members.

Despite reassuring himself that his cancer had been caught early and he had a good chance of a full recovery he found himself struggling to remain positive and optimistic. An MRI scan showed his cancer had not spread to the bone and in October 2000 Roger went into hospital to have his prostate removed. Although the operation carried a risk of incontinence and impotence Roger was convinced, on the advice of his surgeon, that this was the best option for him.

Roger returned to work the following January hoping to have put all his health problems behind him. It was not to be. Just four months later he began to have problems urinating once again, due to a build up of scar tissue following his surgery. Another operation ensued to relieve this.

All was well again until three to four years later when a PSA test showed levels starting to rise again, indicating a possible link to prostate cancer. An MRI scan showed hotspots on the bed of Roger’s prostate indicating residual cancer cells that were left. Roger was given 20 sessions of radiotherapy which have restored his PSA to barely traceable levels and resulted in his cancer being in remission.

Nowadays Roger leads a happy, fulfilled and busy life. He works two days a week for a hospice and three days a week doing police work. He is also took part in the Snowdon500 in May 2009.

Roger became involved with the PCRC after seeing an advert for the Snowdon 500 in an issue of Rotary Today. He said “I was lucky enough to come through my ordeal with prostate cancer whereas my grandfather was not. It’s only through medical advances that survival rates for this common male cancer will improve. The PCRC are doing cutting edge research to try to find a cure for prostate cancer. I hope that by taking part in Snowdon 500 and raising money for the Centre’s research I might make a difference to future generations of men diagnosed with the disease.”

Roger’s final piece of advice to all men and to his fellow Rotarians is to get themselves checked out if they have any of the symptoms. He says: “the tests can be uncomfortable but far better to have a few moments of discomfort than to give the cancer time to spread if it is there.”