Raise cup to nurses in cancer care, says survivor
Macmillan fears coffee morning income will fall
IT was a Macmillan nurse that stood beside Matt Ascough as he was delivered the worst news of his life.
As he waited for an operation to remove a tumour, she found him, and was sitting quietly at his bedside when he woke.
It has been seven years since the 33- year- old events organiser at York Racecourse was told he had testicular cancer, but Macmillan has always been there, he said.
As its flagship coffee morning this week faces a 73 per cent income drop, Mr Ascough is backing calls for support as the charity braces for a “tsunami” in demand.
“I hadn’t known about Macmillan nurses, until I was in that room and faced with that diagnosis,” he said. “Without them, someone is going to have the worst experience of their life.”
Macmillan Cancer Support’s coffee morning, held every September, raised £ 27.5m last year.
This Friday is when the national charity is due to host its annual event, but sign- ups are expected to be down two- thirds. It is facing the hardest year in its centurylong existence, it admitted earlier this month, as it urged fundraisers to do “whatever it takes” to support its vital care. For Mr Ascough, who has raised more than £ 50,000 for the charity since his recovery, the message could not be clearer – what Macmillan does is important.
“I was 26, thinking ‘ I’ve got cancer’, and that it was the end of my world,” he said. “The nurse made me a cup of tea – it was a longchat. She kept coming to find me. They were always there. I always felt I was going to get through this.
“When I was sat on the ward, waiting to go in, the Macmillan nurse came to find me. When I woke up, she was there by my bedside. I was in good hands.
“To people going through cancer, the difference they make, no matter how small, is important.”
Mr Ascough, of Yearsley, near Easingwold, found a lump in 2013 but ignored it for a week, hoping it would disappear.
At a routine GP appointment
he had expected his concerns to be brushed aside, but instead he was sent for urgent scans – on the day of his mother’s 60 birthday.
Preparing to host a surprise party that night, he attended alone, attempting to keep it secret
even as he was ushered into the doctor’s office with an immediate diagnosis.
“I had what felt like the end of the world thrown at me. That was when I was introduced to the Macmillan nurse. I didn’t understand
fully that cancer is treatable, to an extent,” he said.
Mr Ascough’s cancer was caught very early, within three months, and he was given the allclear last year after check- ups every three months.
Since his diagnosis, he has hosted the annual Macmillan Hopes and Dreams Ball at York Racecourse every year, raising over £ 51,500 for the charity. The name has significance for him, he said, as because of Macmillan he always has hope, while the support it gave means that he can still dream.
This year’s planned ball has been postponed to September 25, 2021, but Mr Ascough is urging people to host their own fundraisers on Friday, be it socially distanced doorstep coffee mornings, virtual or sponsored events.
“Even a virtual coffee morning helps,” he said. “That little bit of money can make a difference.”
I had what felt like the end of the world thrown at me. Testicular cancer survivor Matt Ascough, of Yearsley, near Easingwold.