‘In the time it took to go from Durham to Newcastle, 10 men would have died of prostate cancer’

JEFF Stelling is a master of stats but one figure he heard made him so unhappy, he walked all the way from Exeter to Newcastle to do something about it.

The Hartlepool United fan is famous for being able to conjure up all sorts of information about football in his job as a Sky Sports presenter.

But when the former Countdown host was told how many people in this country die of prostate cancer, he took it on himself to raise money and awareness about it.

On Friday, Stelling completed his second charity walk for Prostate Cancer UK, taking him from the home of Exeter City to that of Newcastle United in 15 marathon walks in as many days. His March for Men stopped off at 40 football clubs along the way, anxious to spread the word wherever he went.

“I like a statistic on Soccer Saturday but the statistics Prostate Cancer UK gave me I don’t like,” he said.

“In the time it took us to go from Durham to Newcastle – about 10 hours – 10 men in the UK would have died of prostate cancer. It’s a scary thought.

“One in eight of us will get it. One in four if you’re black.

“I just thought using my profile and the tenacious fundraising ability of everyone involved, we could do something about it to help raise funds and more particularly, raise awareness about what you can do if you’re in a vulnerable group – if you’re over 40, if you have a family history of prostate cancer, if you’re peeing too often at night or you can’t pee up against the wall, you should get yourself checked. That’s the message we’re trying to get over.”

Stelling is also appealing for cash, and you can still donate to his marathon effort by visiting www.justgiving. com/campaigns/ charity/prostatecancer/ jeffsmarchformen