Inspirational Sir Chris Hoy has a lesson all men can learn from - Steve Cardownie
As someone who was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago I cannot emphasise enough how important it is that men over the age of fifty beat a path down to their local clinic and demand a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test.
Oh, there are no doubt some who may try to talk you out of it with, “But you are not showing any symptoms, sometimes the test can give a false reading and make you worry unnecessarily, there is no history of it in your family etc.” Bull!
I had no symptoms, in common with many who have experienced prostate cancer, but had I left it too late I might have been given the news that it had reached Stage 4 and that my time was limited.
Thankfully it was caught early and my brachytherapy treatment appears to have been successful, resulting in my GP telling me that there were no signs of cancer in my body.
Unfortunately, not so for Sir Chris Hoy. I had the privilege of meeting Chris at a cycling event some years ago, which was co-sponsored by the City Council and was struck by his genuine warmth and good humour.
I was delighted then to read in yesterday’s paper that his Tour De 4-fundraising event in Glasgow on Sunday had raised over £2 million to help in the fight against cancer.
Sir Chris had shared the news about his terminal prostate cancer diagnosis and that he had previously not shown any symptoms associated with the disease.
Sir Chris has done a fantastic job in making people aware of the disease and has raised the morale of people who have had a similar diagnosis to him, which says much about the man.
Not even, “if in doubt”. Get yourself checked anyway, in doubt or not!