Macclesfield Express

Dad’s cycle challenge is thank-you to cancer team

- SAM YARWOOD

ADAD who mistook cancer for a bout of tonsilliti­s is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for the team that saved his life.

Craig Reid was diagnosed with advanced non- Hodgkin lymphoma, with cancer in his spleen and neck, last May and was given just a 40 per cent chance of survival.

The 32-year-old, who lives in Macclesfie­ld, had thought he was suffering from tonsilliti­s, when in fact it was actually a tumour. Craig was treated at the specialist cancer centre The Christie, taking part in a clinical trial along with six rounds of chemothera­py, which ended in October 2015.

The treatment was successful and a scan the following month showed the cancer had gone.

Now in remission, Craig is back at work as a project manager for Bentley and has decided to raise money for The Christie as a way of saying thank you to the medics who, he says, he owes everything to.

On September 4, he and three friends – Brian Johnston, James Morris and Matt Burch, whose mother was also treated at The Christie – will set off in their attempt to pedal the 150 miles from Whitehaven in Cumbria to Sunderland in just 48 hours.

They are hoping to raise at least £1,000 with their coast to coast challenge.

Craig, who lives with wife Rosanna and twoyear-old daughter Daisy, said: “I hope people will help us support this amazing cause. The Christie helps anybody unfortunat­e enough to get this type of diagnosis. Professor John Radford and his team were exceptiona­l, I owe them everything.

“When I was told I had stage four cancer I had to come to terms with the very real possibilit­y that I might never see my daughter Daisy grow up.

“Thankfully The Christie gave me the opportunit­y to take part in a clinical trial and I am now well and back at work. This bike ride is my way of giving something back and saying thank you for saving my life.”

The Christie opened in 1901 and is now one of Europe’s leading cancer centres and the largest single-site centre in Europe.

More than 600 clinical trials are open at the Christie at any given time and approximat­ely one in five patients take part in research at some point during their treatment.

To sponsor Craig and his friends visit justgiving. com/fundraisin­g/BrianJohns­ton5.

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? ●● Craig with pal James Morris, who is also taking on the bike ride challenge
●● Craig with pal James Morris, who is also taking on the bike ride challenge

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom