Prostate cancer survivor joins in charity football march
A MAN with local ties to the island was interviewed on BBC Breakfast as one of almost 400 walkers who took part in Prostate Cancer UK’s recent charity football march.
Nick Whight, a former Elizabeth College student who now works as a civil servant in London, joined famous football figures including Jeff Stelling, Chris Kamara and Mark Bright, as well as hundreds of others, as they walked the distance of a marathon from Wembley stadium to Adams Park stadium, the home of Wycombe Wanderers, in memory of former BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull, an avid Wycombe fan who died of prostate cancer in 2022.
Mr Whight was himself diagnosed with prostate cancer in June 2018 having been inspired to visit the doctor after hearing of Mr Turnbull’s diagnosis.
‘He spoke about how full of regret he was that he hadn’t got checked earlier which had meant that his cancer had progressed, and that had a big impact on me. I had been experiencing fatigue for many months so I decided to go to my GP, and after some tests including blood tests, an MRI and a biopsy it was confirmed that I had early onset prostate cancer.’
Mr Whight’s symptoms were monitored for a year before it was decided that further action was required. ‘I chose to have surgery to have my prostate removed in September 2019, and since then I have had regular blood tests, although soon they will only be once a year as I am fortunately now cancer-free,’ he said.
Following his surgery, Mr Whight became engaged in prostate cancer awareness sessions through his job, and was recently approached by Prostate Cancer UK to head up media publicity for the football march.
‘The opportunity to do something physically challenging and do-able was very appealing, and when I was asked if I would be willing to be interviewed by Graham Satchell for the BBC I said yes,’ he said.
He had also enjoyed talking to the walk’s famous faces.
‘I’ve been a Crystal Palace fan since the age of nine, so to get the chance to talk to Mark Bright was surreal. We spent a lot of time talking about Palace.
‘Talking to Chris Kamara completely changed my opinion of him – he’s a very brave man and very humble – while I spoke to Jeff Stelling about his future plans now he’s left Soccer Saturday.’
He added that the march had raised about £200,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.
‘I feel very privileged to have been so closely involved with such a brilliant event.’
