Dad would be so moved to know the impact he’s had
Bill Turnbull’s daughter Flora, who is running the london Marathon in her father’s memory, reveals how his openness about his prostate cancer encouraged others to get checked.
Heading out for an early morning run in the dark may not be an appealing prospect but for Flora Turnbull, training for the London Marathon offers her a welcome chance to remember her father.
She is the daughter of Bill Turnbull, the much-loved BBC Breakfast presenter, who died last summer, almost five years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.
Bill was a keen runner himself, with five London Marathons under his belt.
His passion for running, Flora, 31, says, was passed on to her and older brothers Henry, 34, and Will, 33.
Flora, a teacher who lives with husband David, 28, will be running this April for Prostate Cancer UK in honour of Bill, continuing his mission to raise awareness of the disease.
“I used to go out for runs with Dad when I was a teenager and I think about him a lot while I’m running,” she said.
Christmas and new year, Flora said, were “a reality check”.
“Moving into a new year without Dad was strange and we’re all finding ways of remembering him. His birthday falls on Burns Night, which he absolutely loved. He’d perform the full Burns address to the haggis, go over the top with the Scottish accent.
“He shared a flat with Gordon Brown at Edinburgh University and was friendly with Robbie Coltrane, so he could do the accent.”
Bill was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in November 2017, going public in March the following year. He described that time as the “worst days of my life”.
“Dad had been getting aches and pains for a while,” said Flora. “Eventually my brother asked him to go to the GP.”
After being referred, Bill was told the cancer had already spread to his bones in his legs, hips, pelvis and ribs. He went on to speak openly about his illness, encouraging men to tell their doctor of any concerns.
Flora said: “Those first few years, I tried to see it more as a chronic illness rather than a terminal one. We didn’t know he was only going to have five years. The doctors said he had between three and 10 and Dad was such an optimist I think he thought, ‘I can do 10 years’.”
Bill was cared for by wife Sarah McCombie. “My mum was amazing,” said Flora. “She and Dad had an incredible relationship.
“Saying ‘I have cancer’ was difficult for Dad. He was so brave but I think he found it very difficult to face that.
“The psychological effect of cancer is huge – the focus is on getting better physically but my goodness, it really affects people mentally.”
Bill died on August 31, 2022, aged 66, weeks after he’d returned to presenting his Classic FM show.
Flora said: “I remember Mum and Dad talking about how exciting it was for him to go back, and then he did deteriorate very quickly.
“It’s so strange because, although you cognitively understand that person is ill, the emotional impact of thinking, ‘Gosh, this is really it,’ was a big shock.
“We were lucky enough to have hospice care at home. The nurses were amazing, they treated him with such dignity, which is so important. It takes a very special person to do what they do.
“In many ways it was an amazing time because the family was together, my brother was over from Australia. Before Dad deteriorated he was in his room, in bed, and we laid a little table up there and had supper with him at the table every night. To share that special time was something we’re so grateful for.”
Flora’s also grateful for memories of her wedding day, held in 2020 “bang between lockdowns”.
She said: “We just wanted to get married and do it while Dad was well. Dad was at his best and gave a brilliant father of the bride speech. He was so proud.”
Following Bill’s death, Prostate Cancer UK reported a spike in people seeking information about the disease – 61,000 completed the charity’s Risk Checker page, up 2500 per cent. There were 11,000 more visitors than usual to its homepage and its specialist nurses saw a 132 per cent increase in calls.
Flora said that of all the tributes, those from people who had sought treatment because of Bill’s openness were particularly special.
“It was so lovely to hear how he’d affected people’s lives. Especially people who said, ‘I heard your dad talking about it, I got checked and got this sorted before it became something that could have killed me as well’. Dad was such a modest person but I think he would have been so moved by that, to know the impact that he had.”