‘I REFUSED TO LET MY CANCER DEFINE ME’

Mark says: ‘After my initial diagnosis, I’d sit hugging my kids so hard, not knowing what I could say. I didn’t want to write letters, I wanted them to hear and see me, so I recorded a series of videos for them and all my loved ones to watch at key points when I’d gone.

‘I explained what each of them meant to me, that they had so much to live for, that I’d never leave them. But after I responded well to treatment, I thought I just might have a chance.

‘I embraced my new diet, exercise regime and daily meditation, yoga and acupuncture, and refused to let my cancer define me.

‘My oncologist describes my story as truly exceptional. All I know is that being given an terminal cancer diagnosis and surviving it has given me a perspective on life that I value more than anything.’