My bucket list? Auschwitz and Chernobyl are already ticked off

Neil Drysdale meets the man who’s put his cancer diagnosis into perspective by visiting some of the world’s most notorious sites

He shares his name with the star of the famous James Bond franchise.

But, ever since he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphona in 2014, Daniel Craig has been less interested in the glitz and glamour of travelling abroad than journeying to places where terrible tragedies have unfolded.

This has already taken him to Chernobyl, and within 100 metres of the spot where a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred in 1986.

And he has also ventured to Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland, where more than a million people were killed during the Second World War.

Mr Craig, an engineer and surveyor in the Granite City, admitted it was difficult to explain what had motivated him to embark on these European sojourns since his life changed four years ago. But he seems determined to follow his own path in fighting with the illness which has affected all 24 male models who will appear in the Brave catwalk shows at the Beach Ballroom on May 11.

The 45-year-old said: “I haven’t let my cancer affect my daily life, and I won’t let it define me or let it take the lead role in my life.

“But the worst part is having to deal with the worry of the family and I think this is much harder than dealing with the cancer itself.

“Yes, it has slowed me down a little, but it has also driven me on to create a bucket list and impelled me to visit places from the past which have interested me.

“Chernobyl was one of the disasters which I had vague memories of when I was growing up.

“But when I went to the site, it was eerie, it was humbling, and it gave me a proper perspective into people who had really suffered.

“I have always been fascinated with modern history and Auschwitz was beyond words. You come away from that experience with feelings you can’t express and, suddenly, all your own worries seem less important.”

That philosophy is evident from Mr Craig’s response to his own problems. At the start, he was numb, but now he actually feels lucky he has been allowed to progress with his life.

As he added: “It’s not the end of the road, just the start of another journey.”

And the next stage will see him strut his stuff with the “Blue Steel” look when he joins his catwalk colleagues next month.

He said: “It is going to be a big occasion, and I know I will be out of my comfort zone, but at the end of the day, we are not doing this for ourselves.

“My uncle, Ron, was diagnosed with leukaemia around the same time I got my news and he died in 2015. I have never forgotten him.

“He spent time in the Anchor Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the quality of care and support he was given was fantastic.”

Now he believes it’s something back.

“It gave me a proper perspective into people who had really suffered”

time to give