85-year-old cancer patient takes on final ski challenge

An 85-year-old man who credits the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre with saving his life is preparing for a final trip to his beloved ski slopes – to raise money and say thanks to those who cared for him.

John Adamson from Shrewsbury, has now had two brushes with cancer – a carcinoma on his leg and a recent squamous cell carcinoma on the base of his tongue. Thankfully the octogenarian has successfully completed his treatment and is celebrating by hitting the slopes for the final time.

Along with his wife Judy, John has always been a keen skier but when he suffered from a sore throat in 2022 which later transpired to be a side effect of cancer, he had to take a break. Unfortunately, John’s age means insurance cover for skiing is now prohibitive, so he is using this last trip this month as a fundraiser to give something back.

“I wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone ski, if it wasn’t for everyone at the Centre so I just want to say thank you and raise some money.

“I was at the Keswick Beer Festival in June 2022 when I started with a sore throat. I had had carcinoma on the back of my leg before Covid and I wondered if it would be something like that. I asked my GP if it could be but they weren’t sure.

“Eventually I was referred to head and neck consultants who unfortunately missed it, and then I went to A&E in April 2023 because I was sick from coughing so much and it was full of blood.

“Various tests were all fairly inconclusive and I had to have a general anaesthetic and biopsies. Eventually they found it was squamous cell carcinoma and it had spread to my lymph nodes. I was given IV antibiotics.

“I was very ill and was hospitalised for some time. We decided on going down the curative care route because I was fit and active and so we started radical Radiotherapy in August 2023 - 14months after my initial sore throat.

“Once I was at Lingen Davies Cancer Centre I felt very well cared for and since then I’ve had support from dieticians, nutritionists, head and neck clinical nurse specialists, and support groups.

“Radiotherapy was very intense, six weeks Monday to Friday, intensive as you can get. Claustrophobia was a problem in the head cages, I had to have two different ones to cater to the change in shape. I lay there and used to imagine I was on a walk, and then I’d imagine I was skiing, it really helped take my mind off it!

“I told one of the nurses I was thinking about skiing and they put the music to Ski Sunday on the player – that was really lovely.

“I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’ve gradually got stronger. I’ve always been a skier and missed it, when we went in January this year it was two years since I’d last been. Looking back the cancer was probably making me feel more tired than I would have been otherwise.

“When we went this January, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to cope, but it was great.

“This will be the last trip for me, it’s just too expensive for insurance now. I just want to raise some money for local cancer services to say thank you.”

Karen Roberts, fundraiser for Lingen Davies, said a heartfelt thank you to John for turning what could be a sad occasion into a positive – helping to raise money to benefit local cancer services.

“We’re extremely grateful to people like John who choose to raise funds to benefit others like this. It’s a shame it has to be his last skiing trip but I’m sure he’ll make the most of it, and I hope him and Judy have a fabulous time.”

To support John’s fundraiser visit the link: John Adamson is fundraising for Lingen Davies Cancer Fund