Childhood cancer survivor, 75, goes the extra mile for Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal
A 75-year-old man, who survived cancer as a child and was inspired to become a consultant, is running the Southend Half Marathon this weekend (Sunday 11 June) for a Southend cancer appeal.
Eric Watts, from Shenfield, has already raised almost £500 for Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation’s Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal. He’s no stranger to running though, having completed nine London Marathons and over 50 half marathons, which has seen him raise over £20,000 over the last 39 years.
He was treated for a spinal tumour in 1960, aged just 12, and needed chemotherapy after five months of hospital treatment.
Driven by his experience of cancer, Eric went on to complete medical school, working in the UK and Canada before taking up the post of Consultant Haematologist at Basildon Hospital from 1989 to 2012.
On his memory of receiving radiotherapy treatment, Eric said: “I remember lying on a cold, hard table whilst being lined up to make sure that the radiation hit the tumour without causing any damage to healthy, normal tissue – it would often take quite some time.
“Completion of the Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal will ensure greater accuracy in protecting surrounding tissue, whilst also providing a more comfortable and faster radiotherapy experience. As someone that’s always been something of a fidget, faster positioning and treatment time would have made my experience a lot more bearable.”
To sponsor Eric in support of the Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal, please visit: Eric Watts is fundraising for Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation (justgiving.com)
Once the £600,000 for the Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal is raised, it will mean that Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s Cancer Centre, at Southend Hospital, would be among one of the first NHS cancer centres to have this cutting-edge technology. This would mean that it could provide superior, ground-breaking radiation oncology treatment to over 2,500 patients across mid and south Essex each year, by 2025.
For further information on the Spotlight Appeal, visit www.spotlightappeal.org