Jolyon, 75, faced his own cancer diagnosis in 2018 and has also seen members of his immediate family and ‘too many friends’ touched by the disease. That’s why he has pledged to leave a gift in his Will to fund our ground-breaking research.
A few years ago, I just felt that something wasn’t right. Having been involved in sport all my life, I know my body well and I had a sense that something had changed. I was not feeling myself and mentioned it to the doctor. Little did I know I would be diagnosed with early, but aggressive, prostate cancer.
Before this, I had always felt I was unbreakable. The consultant surgeon was brilliant and outlined the options available to me and the immediate need for treatment.
I’m afraid my reaction was both naïve and typical: I asked if I could delay things as I had an important event to work on in a couple of months’ time. My wife’s reaction is unprintable!
The surgeon looked directly into my eyes and said: “Let me put it this way… You have a cancer which will kill you, but I am going to cure you, unless of course you’d rather I didn’t!”
From that point, I realised I was not indestructible.
Fortunately, the cancer had not spread outside my prostate, and I was lucky to be treated with a non-invasive form of prostatectomy, carried out using robotic surgery. I know that advancements like this have only come about through research and scientific developments.
I am fortunate to have had no further recurrence of disease and feel relieved, grateful and very lucky that I am still here today. I had seen my wife go through breast cancer some years earlier and other family members be diagnosed with cancer too. One or two had died from it. My diagnosis definitely affected my views on cancer research, and I now take a close interest in new developments in this area.
Cancer is more and more prevalent these days and seems to be striking everybody. Despite all the improvements in technology and research, it is still there, touching far too many people. We know much more now than we did previously, but there are so many more discoveries still to make.
We need to improve our ability to diagnose cancer early and to find kinder, more effective treatments to increase survival rates. There simply cannot be enough research into this disease.
The word ‘cancer’ only used to be mentioned in whispers. Now, as research has improved and more people are surviving it, we have more hope that we can get ahead of it and eventually beat the disease. That’s why it made perfect sense to me to leave a gift to the ICR in my Will.
My wife and I had drawn up our Wills many years ago. But having both had run-ins with cancer since then, we decided to update them.
Our solicitor suggested the Will for Free service and sent us details about how it worked. It seemed like a superb idea to us and after reading all about the work of the ICR, we felt it would be a good way to benefit both ourselves and a cause that was incredibly close to our hearts.
It was an easy process and having experienced cancer ourselves, it also felt very meaningful to be able to make a contribution that would ultimately benefit others going through similar experiences.
I am well aware that further research needs funding. And without it, advances in diagnoses and treatments will not move forward. I am glad to be able to do something to ensure that vital cancer research continues and to contribute to a process that will see others benefit after I am no longer here.
Find out more about leaving a gift in your Will to the ICR and order your free copy of our legacy guide.