A RETIRED wine trader who survived bowel cancer has announced that he plans climb Mount Snowdon to raise money for the charity which helped him navigate the past few tumultuous years of bad health.
Richard Howard, aged 74, from Moreton-in-Marsh, will take on this challenge with his two sons Ben and Josh who are encouraging him to live life to the fullest after undergoing extensive cancer treatment.
They plan to tackle the 1,085 meter high Welsh mountain on Richard's birthday, Thursday, July 6 or the following day depending on the weather.
The father of four first noticed that something wasn't right five years ago when his bowel habits changed and a colonoscopy later confirmed that he had bowel cancer.
Richard then went through several rounds of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat the cancer and experienced other health issues along the way including pneumonia, treatment related diabetes, an insertion of a stoma bag and two pulmonary embolisms.
Despite nearly two years of very poor health, Richard has now had the stoma bag removed and is feeling well enough to climb the highest mountain in Wales.
He will be raising money for Occtopus - The Oxford Colon Cancer Trust, a local charity which has helped him considerably over the last few years and has made significant donations to the hospital department where he received treatment.
Richard said: “In 2022, I started to live my life again and wanted to pay back my immense thanks to the incredible team at Occtopus who helped me through my cancer journey and to the incredible NHS Consultants for giving me this new lease of life.
“When I contracted pneumonia during my treatment, the medical experts and my family did not think I would make it through the night, but here I am, and I want to challenge myself and live life to the fullest now that I can.
'“An old friend said to me “live each day like it is your last' which I intend to do because one day it will be!
"So that is why I am doing this, with a lot of persuasion from my sons and daughters.
"This won’t be easy for me due to my weak health, but I want to do it to help spread awareness of the work Occtopus does and to encourage people to take the symptoms of bowel cancer seriously and to get advice straight away if you notice anything unusual.”
To donate to Richard’s JustGiving page visit tinyurl.com/mpkzp98p
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