Steele-y determination in honour of dad Kenny
Callum’s made of tough stuff
A Wishaw teenager proved to be a chip off the old block as he toughed it out over a gruelling muddy assault course on Sunday.
Callum Steele, 13, decided to raise money for The Haven charity after his dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer over a year ago.
The Coltness High pupil was motivated to take on the Mud Madness challenge at Chatelherault Country Park in recognition of the support the charity provided to his dad.
Kenny Steele, 46, has been battling the illness and has been using the services provided by the centre in Wishaw General.
He is determined to make the most of the time he has left with wife Kirsty, 42, and his children.
The engineer has already shown his fighting qualities having so far endured 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
“I was told in July last year the cancer was terminal. It had spread to my liver,” Kenny revealed.
“There isn’t a cure but they can treat it, and I responded well at first.
“The first dose of chemotherapy worked and took it all out of my liver but it came back again in the bowel around May.
“I’ve had another three doses of a different chemotherapy recently which has been quite hard on me.
“But I don’t know how that has worked yet, I’m just waiting on a scan.”
Medics initially thought the dad-of-two had the digestive disorder diverticulitis.
But a surgical operation revealed he had bowel cancer, which had spread to his liver.
Despite the devastating diagnosis, Kenny – who is also dad to daughter Zara, 10 - is philosophical and knows the best doctors can do is try to buy him some time.
“They don’t know how long I’ve got. I might respond well, then again I might not. It’s just one of those things,” said Kenny.
“They said I had about 18 months to begin with but that was last year.
“You get highs and lows. I’m just trying to keep the kids’ lives as normal as I can.
“It doesn’t play on my mind too much. You could sit in the house and think about it all the time.
“I’m doing alright with it, just getting on and trying to spend time with them, and trying to go holidays and other things.
“We managed to get away abroad at Easter before the cancer came back.
“We planned to go to New York in the summer but had to cancel about a week before we were due to go when I had to go back into hospital for another operation.” Kenny is proud of his son’s efforts. Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers footballer
Callum may not have shown a clean pair of heels over the 5km course but his fundraising has certainly been a runaway success.
His fundraising target for The Haven has already been smashed out the park, raising over £840.
The charity supports patients with lifelimiting illnesses and provides a range of therapies and treatments such as massage, aromatherapy and reflexology.
“I’ve been going down to The Haven for treatments and they have been really good with us,” Kenny continued.
“It’s also good to talk to people there who are in the same position as me.
“We just wanted to thank the staff at The
Haven for the work they do.
“I also want to say thanks to the staff at Wishaw General as well. I’ve been in and out of hospital for a year now and they have been brilliant.”
Kenny also thanked his employers, McGowan Engineering in Cambuslang.
“I’ve been there since I left school and they’ve been really good with me,” he said.
Kirsty said: “We’re extremely proud of Callum for taking on the Mud Madness challenge with his pal Aidan Buggy.
“He had a super day and the rain meant he was extra filthy by the time the race finished.”
To donate to Callum’s fundraising, visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/kirsty-steele3