Those of you that have known me since I was very young will know that I have suffered from some quite difficult and serious medical conditions. After having my third and last heart surgery at the age of nine (being told then that I had a 40-60% chance of survival), I believed my days of life threatening surgery were over. However at the age of 49 I was diagnosed with advanced Prostate Cancer. 

Before being diagnosed, I had been to the GP on two occasions and was turned away both times. The first time my GP told me I was too young, the second time after the “finger test”, my GP sent me home again telling me I had nothing to worry about. If it wasn’t for the tenacious nature of my cardiology specialist, I may not be here to tell this story.

Once I had been diagnosed my Prostate Cancer consultant said that this disease had been in my body for a very long time, with a PSA of 64.8 (those of you who know about PSA will know that's ridiculously high). Always challenge the GP as a simple blood test can make a huge difference.

After Radical Prostatectomy surgery, I needed seven weeks of daily Salvage Radiotherapy. There, I met a lot of other men who were being treated for Prostate Cancer. Despite knowing the significance in my diagnosis and the chances of my survival, it was then that I realised the gravitas of my situation. Other men would comment on how high my PSA was in comparison with theirs, most people did not have a PSA over 5, which in turn made me feel how lucky I had been for the opportunity for surgery to have taken place.

After further surgery related to the earlier Prostate surgery, I have finally felt fit enough to do something more active. So this year I will be taking part in Football to Amsterdam, a two day, 145-mile pedal pilgrimage to the Dutch capital backed by Prostate Cancer. This is the most common cancer in men and even more prominent in black men. It’s a disease, which kills one man every 45 minutes – that’s two men during a football match. If you have heard the news today you would have heard that Prostate Cancer is now killing more men than women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is simply not acceptable but Prostate Cancer UK knows that with your help we can turn it around.

I hope people never have to go through what I have been through over the past three years and that is why I want to help Prostate Cancer raise money and also raise awareness of this silent killer. We also need to do more to raise awareness in the black community.