FIGHTING TO PUTT CANCER BEHIND HIM
A KEEN golfer who lost his leg to cancer is getting back into the swing of things on the greens.
Former bricklayer Chris Carberry, 21, put a niggling pain in his knee down to too much golf and a strenuous job.
But when a fall in November 2015 left him with a broken femur, doctors discovered he had the rare bone cancer osteosarcoma.
Chris said: “I knew something was wrong because stumbling off a kerb shouldn’t leave you with a broken leg.
“I was playing a lot of golf that summer and work was always tough, so I just thought the odd pain was that.
“They told me it was cancer the day after my sister’s wedding, and I said, ‘S**t happens’.
“That’s how I’ve tried to be throughout all of this, just positive and looking forward.”
The large tumour failed to respond to chemotherapy and doctors could not save Chris’ leg, so he opted for an above-the-knee amputation in March last year.
But the cancer returned – this time in his lungs.
Further surgery to remove a third of Chris’ lungs was successful and new drugs have helped him give cancer the boot.
Now he is studying to become a prosthetist – someone who makes artificial limbs – to help others.
Chris, of St Helens, Merseyside, said: “I always played a load of sport and cancer’s not going to change that. I’m back playing golf and have a charity golf day this weekend.
“Then I’m hand-cycling 20 miles a day along Hadrian’s Wall. I had my lung surgery about 10 weeks ago and my stump is giving me problems at the moment, so it’s not going to be easy at all.
“But I want to raise money and I want to help. Next year I’m helping Cancer Research UK with a research project.
“I want to make a difference for other cancer sufferers and make it easier in the future.”
Chris is supporting Stand Up To Cancer, a joint national fundraising campaign organised by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 to accelerate ground-breaking cancer studies and save more lives more quickly.
To find out how you can support the “rebellion against cancer” visit Standuptocancer.org.uk.