Posted on: August 31, 2022

Community Champion: Colin

“My wife Jane was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019 and, although she initially received treatment at our local hospital, they were unable to offer additional treatment. It was at this time that we were given an appointment to meet with Consultant Surgeon Mr Ian Jenkins at the St Mark’s Complex Cancer Clinic.
 
Mr Jenkins arranged more scans and a meeting with his specialist team. We were introduced to the whole team that would be caring for Jane, everyone had an equal voice and we listened as they explained their areas of expertise. We went through everything, reviewed scans and discussed options, and I remember Jane told me she that she felt safe in the care of the team. The whole team were wonderful, the nurses had regular phone contact with Jane and, we were amazed by, and grateful for, Mr Jenkins professionalism and dedication.
 
Sadly, Jane passed away, and I wanted to do something in her memory, which is why I decided to host a charity golf day in 2021. After the success of this event, I decided to host another charity golf day this summer on the 12th August. Both these events were an opportunity to share and celebrate Jane’s life and, to also help raise money which will support research into bowel cancer. This process has helped me very much, Jane will always be the most important part of my life and was the inspiration for wanting to support cancer research undertaken at the hospital.
 
I am very grateful to everyone who helped make this event a success, to my friends, local businesses, the local rugby and football clubs and to individuals who donated hampers, signed sports shirts and other prizes. I also want to thank all the staff at Hessel Golf Club, particularly the manager Mark who arranged sponsorship from the local Volvo dealership who had cars parked on the course which gave it a premium feel, like an international tournament day!
 
The day was one to remember and the icing on the cake is that we raised £1,768, which, combined with the 2021 event, means a total of £3,649 was raised which will be supporting Mr Ian Jenkins complex cancer research. I want to thank everyone for their kindness; I know that Jane would have been very happy to know that these funds will help support complex cancer research.”