Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Ex-soldier diagnosed with cancer vows to keep fighting disease
John Litterick served i n the Falklands War and returned bearing the scars of the conflict.
After battling against the demons of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2014.
The 54-year-old (pictured) managed to beat the disease and went into remission a year later.
However, he recently learned that the disease has returned.
Despite being in the middle of chemotherapy treatment, he is set to take on the Relay for Life with a team of family members and friends to raise money for Cancer Research in the hope that he can help them get closer to finding a cure to save lives — i ncluding his own. The truck driver from Forfar said: “My mum had two aunts who both died from leukaemia in their twenties. “If it hadn’t been for the money raised since those days then I would be dead too. “It was a real shock when I was diagnosed. “In my life I have been through a lot. “I fought i n the Falklands and came back with PTSD. I
AN army veteran battling his second bout of a rare form of cancer is set to fundraise to help find a cure for himself and others.
am still fighting that but it isn’t as bad as it used to be.
“I think that what I have been through — having had to fight so much — has given me the strength to get through the t wo cancer diagnoses.
“My military background has instilled in me that I will always just keep trying to keep going and find a way.
“I have things to fight for — I have my family.
“The money raised for Cancer Research really makes a difference.
“If you look at how much everything has come on, it is all from people raising money for them.
“The money I raise can bring them closer to finding a cure — not just for me, for everyone.
“I have a lot of people that I was with in the Scots Guards who are battling cancer and this is for them too.”
John is set to take on the Relay for Life alongside his wife Louise, 50; his daughter Jamie, 26; and her partner Keith Paterson, 30.
More people are set to join the team and support John in his fundraising effort.
John said: “It is a big step but it means a lot to me and I decided that I was going to do it — so I am going to do it.
“It is a 24-hour thing so it is going to be a long slog but at least I will have my family there helping me out. The way I am looking at it is that I will only have to do an hour every seven hours. The fact that it is all of us doing it together is enough motivation for me.”
To contribute to John’s effort, people can visit his funding page at relay. cancerresearchuk.org.