MIRACLE TRADIE, 28, DEFEATED CANCER10 TIMES
And is happier despite endless gruelling treatments
Blake Ashworth was just 21 when his plans for a professional football career and a trip to America were pushed aside so he could undergo urgent surgery for a rare brain tumour.
The Perth-based tradesman thought he was ‘invincible’ until a few painful headaches - and a 12-hour surgery - saw him diagnosed with cancer.
Although the surgery was a success, Blake, now 28, would go on to fight the relentless disease a further nine times.
Despite being told by doctors he had a 15 per cent chance of dying and a risk of paralysis, Blake has fought through each battle with a smile on his face and has never felt more grateful to be alive.
And Blake has never felt more grateful to be alive.
‘Looking back at it there were very, very few bad days,’ he told told FEMAIL.
‘I just accepted that I had cancer and
there wasn’t much I could do about it except try and make the most of the ride and enjoy it.
‘I couldn’t do anything to help except be positive and try to stay healthy.’
Weeks after his 21st birthday Blake noticed he’d lost weight and was feeling off-balance. He was also getting headaches so painful he’d sometimes have to stop what he was doing.
The spirited young man joked that it felt like he had a tumour in his head but a visit to the doctors proved that sadly, he was right.
‘I got home from having a CT scan and I was getting ready for work when my phone rang,’ he explained.
‘I went and told my sister but she didn’t believe me... it took 10 minutes to convince her... and after that it took me another half hour to tell mum.
‘You don’t really want to tell your mum that info but she was my lift to the hospital.’ He admitted to feeling fairly ‘chilled’ about getting the news and the ‘whole situation didn’t really affect him’ but after seven years the reality has ‘finally caught up with him’. The trip to the United States was cancelled and radiation was used to shrink the germ cell tumour - a cancer usually found in the ovaries or testicles.
Blake also had to learn how to walk again because of the way the tumour had affected his balance.
But still, despite the
symptoms of hair loss and drowsiness, he was ready to take up any challenges cancer threw his way, and optimistically returned to work eight months later.
However the cancer returned, this time on his spine weeks before his sister Leesa’s wedding. After getting permission to attend the nuptials surrounded by close family, Blake headed back to hospital for 25 more rounds of chemotherapy.
‘I was always told that the tumour I have is very sensitive to radiation and chemo and they continued to say it shouldn’t come back after every treatment I had but here I am beating it 10 times later,’ he said. ‘The doctors were very surprised that it came back each time and I was told that shouldn’t happen but it kept coming back and when it can back in my head the third time it was very rare and unknown to them... now I’m just in a league of my own.’ Blake became grateful for different things in his life: breaks during the chemotherapy, being around his parents and siblings, or getting a beer with mates.
Even when experts told him that the third bout of cancer might see him end up in a wheelchair, the tradesman just thought about how he’d apply for the Paralympics.
His positivity never waned. In Feburary this year Blake had a stem cell transplant with a ‘super high dosage’ of chemo in a bid to stave off the tumours.
Despite being told by doctors he had a 15 per cent chance of dying and a risk of paralysis, Blake has fought through each battle with a smile on his face and has never felt more grateful to be alive