Gareth’s story............

At the beginning of summer 2015, I went to the doctors with what I thought was a mouth ulcer. It had been there a while and would not go away. Thankfully I was referred to the head and neck unit at the Freeman hospital newcastle still unaware fully of the situation that would turn my, and my family’s, world upside down.

In the following weeks, I was told that I had a cancerous tumour on my tongue, which was aggressive. This resulted in a 12 hour operation to cut away a large part of my tongue. This was replaced with skin from my calf. To add to this I also had to have the lymph-nodes in the affected side of my neck taken out. I spent a week in hospital before then being told that microscopic particles had spread to my lymph-nodes. Subsequently I had 6 weeks of radiotherapy.

This September marks myself being in remission for 3 years, but I still go for regular check ups every 4 months.

During this experience you meet all sorts of specialists who do an unbelievable job in saving people , and there is of course also people who sadly aren’t as lucky as me. It’s a lot for anyone and their family to get their head around, but it is possible with the great support that you can get from McMillan cancer support.

I wanted to give something back and to support McMillan in the great work they did for me and my family, but even more for people in the future. Myself and Patrick (my brother) are doing the Great North Run 2018 for Macmillan cancer support, and also Hexham Juniors U10s. Sport helped me develop my character to get through the experience of diagnosis, treatment, and the aftermath to date. Passing on the lessons we’ve both learnt over the years through sport is important to both Patrick and myself.

It’s not about how much ever little bit of money will help Macmillans continued support which is invaluable, and will help us give players the best learning opportunity possible.