I told my kids I have cancer. And then I ran two marathons
For a man who is dying, Kevin Webber is the most incredible advert for living life to the full. Coping with the knowledge that you have only a couple of years left to live would floor most of us.
But for Kevin, 51, his terminal illness has given him a zest for living, pushing his body to the limits and campaigning tirelessly about prostate cancer – and how men should get themselves checked out.
This year he ran in the world’s toughest race, the Marathon Des Sables, six days of running over 150 miles through the scorching heat of the Sahara desert. And he plans to do it again.
Kevin is on a mission, and has been since October 2014 when he was diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer after he was given a prostatespecific antigen (PSA) test.
His reading was 342. A normal reading is around four. After a biopsy, he was given the grim news.
“They use a scoring system of one to 10 and I scored nine,” he says. “That means there are a lot of cancerous cells and they’re fast-growing.
“I looked at the doctor and said ‘ what does that mean?’ He replied, ‘ You’ve got two to 10 years to live, but maybe think more like three to four’.”
The stark reality that death was staring Kevin in the face wasn’t what he had expected.
“I thought I’d be OK, that the cancer would be curable,” he says. “My dad has been living with prostate cancer for the last 10 years with only minimal treatment to keep it under control.”
Telling his children – Hayley, now 18, Ben, 16, and Ollie, 11 – was particularly hard. “My kids all thought I was going to tell them my dad was going to die,” says Kevin. “We all cried together.”
Kevin’s treatment was gruelling, with three months of chemotherapy and three months of radiotherapy.
“I slumped into an armchair like an old man after the first dose of chemo,” he says. “So I got up early the next day and went for a run. I felt much better.
“I did two marathons, London and Brighton, within the space of two weeks. It absolutely helped. Extreme exercise can help reduce cancer growth. Running was an escape from the reality of my condition.”
For Kevin, completing the Marathon Des Sables, finishing a creditable 568th out of nearly 1,200 competitors, was the ultimate achievement. “It was tough, and one day in particular I thought I can’t go HAYLEY: “My dad has achieved a lot but the biggest achievement is showing people that just because you’re given a stage 4 cancer diagnosis doesn’t mean you have to give up.” BEN: “I am proud of my dad as he has been able to make the best out of a bad situation, pushing himself to his limit and Kevin has raised over £43,000 for Prostate Cancer UK and hopes to hit £50,000 by the end of the year. Donate at justgiving.com/fundraising/ Kevin-Webber4 then still trying to do more. He inspires others with similar conditions that you can still aim to do things that you never thought possible.” OLLIE: “My dad keeps running no matter how much pain he is in. He has proved that you don’t have to give up and he keeps going to show others that, even when things are not great.” on,” he says. “It was boiling hot, my feet were aching, the backpack was killing me, and I was in tears with exhaustion.
“But I didn’t want to let anyone down who had donated money, and I thought about the charity and all the people who had donated money and it spurred me on.”
Kevin is now planning his next marathon expedition, fitting it in around his job at a bank and raising awareness of prostate cancer and how early detection can save lives.
“If anything changes below the waist go see a doctor,” he urges. “Don’t hang around.
“I was unlucky in that I found myself in the five per cent of people for whom there’s no cure.
“Most men, if they react quickly enough, would be saved.
“My hope for the future is that by the time my children are 40, prostate cancer won’t be any more deadly than whooping cough or diphtheria.”
Kevin’s determination to lead as normal a life as possible has helped immensely, he believes.
“We’ve kept positive and enjoy every moment we have together,” he says. “I don’t waste time now.
“My mantra is ‘you only have two lives – your second one starts when you realise you’ve only got one’.”