WHEN the starter's pistol goes off to signal the beginning of the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run in May, among the throng of athletes will be Selkirk's Robert Wood, writes Mark Entwistle.
Robert Wood is recovering from prostate cancer. Photograph: Alastair Watson
And while, along with many of his fellow runners, he is looking forward to the fun element of taking part, Robert, who lives with his wife, Wendy, in Linglie Road, will also have a much more serious purpose.
Two years ago, aged 58, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, the number one cancer killer in men in the UK. Now, after life-saving brachytherapy, which costs the NHS £15,000 per person, Robert is recuperating and concentrating on building his health back up.
As part of that effort, he is aiming to raise as much money as possible for both The Prostate Cancer Charity and The Edinburgh Male Cancer Centre, where he was treated, and which is housed at the Western General Hospital.
"I had three options – surgery, radiotherapy and brachytherapy, and it was the latter I opted for. But it is very costly, about £15,000, and not yet widely available. So I wanted to help raise some cash as a way of both thanking the cancer centre and helping it continue its work," Robert told The Wee Paper this week.
Robert is a designer with Heather Mills in the town, while Wendy runs the Cat's Whiskers cattery at their home in Linglie Road.
"I was very grateful to the late Ian Mitchell, from Selkirk, who pointed me towards The Prostate Cancer Charity, which was able to provide lots of information on both the illness and my options."
Although Robert's run round the capital is some months off, Prostate Cancer Awareness Week this year runs from March 19-25 and hopefully publicity from this national event will spur people into donating to Robert's fund-raising efforts.
"Prostate cancer is the number one cancer in men. Nearly 32,000 UK men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and 10,000 will die," Robert added. "That's more than one an hour. Yet research into prostate cancer is the poor relation when compared to, say, breast cancer in women.
"The staff who treated me at the Western General were absolutely superb, as was cancer nurse Alan McLaren at the Borders General Hospital and my own GP.
"But more needs to be done to raise awareness among men of this disease and more money needs to be raised to keep research going.
"That's why, in a couple of months, I'll be pounding my way round Edinburgh, hopefully raising lots of money for a vital cause."
Anyone who would like to donate to Robert's appeal should contact him on 20638 and a dedicated website should be up and running soon.
