Just over three years ago at the start of the English 2015 cricket season I travelled up to Lords to meet Jonathan Agnew from BBC Test Match Special. This was an absolute highlight for me being a big cricket fan. I wasn't able to go to see the day's play due to work, so I managed to get into the ground after play had finished to meet Aggers under the media centre, although if you buy Lives & Times that wasn't as simple as it might sound.
In just the few minutes we had together I managed to get the photo for the book, and a photo with the Beating Bowel Cancer charity tie for the Facebook group that raises awareness about bowel cancer. Aggers also very kindly did a short video message for the Knowl Hill Cricket Club side following a disastrous 48 all out the previous week. It's worth a watch and the following week we scored a much more respectable 159 in a drawn match 😊
The book was published in November 2015, and along with all the limited other items on my bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website it has now raised over £4000 for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, and although she had successful surgery to remove the tumour from her bowel the cancer spread to her left lung and she had four operations to remove cancerous nodules. Unfortunately her health deteriorated with the cancer finally spreading to her brain, and she sadly passed away in 2016. All my fundraising efforts are now done in her memory. All the proceeds from sales are donated to the charity.
Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, but if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases diagnosed at stage 1. This drops to just 7% of patients surviving for five years or more when diagnosed at stage 4. Much more needs to be done in raising awareness to help reduce the 16,000 lives lost each year. A reduction in the screening age to 50 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland matching that in Scotland could make a significant difference too. Read more about how you can contact your MP about this here.
Since meeting Jonathan, his wife Emma has had breast cancer. Thankfully she is in remission, and my thoughts and very best wishes are with them both.
Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, but if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases diagnosed at stage 1. This drops to just 7% of patients surviving for five years or more when diagnosed at stage 4. Much more needs to be done in raising awareness to help reduce the 16,000 lives lost each year. A reduction in the screening age to 50 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland matching that in Scotland could make a significant difference too. Read more about how you can contact your MP about this here.
Since meeting Jonathan, his wife Emma has had breast cancer. Thankfully she is in remission, and my thoughts and very best wishes are with them both.
