An Oldham man who has suffered three separate bouts of mouth cancer in 24 years is taking on a sponsored skydive for a close cause.
Maggie’s Oldham is a charity that provides free expert care and support to those with cancer and their loved ones and has a centre near Royal Oldham Hospital.
First diagnosed with cancer in his mouth in 2000, James Price underwent a major surgery which lasted around 15 hours as part of his treatment.
Maggie's Oldham at the Royal Oldham Hospital (Image: Google Maps)
His illness took a significant toll on his mental health due to feeling isolated.
He recovered from his cancer until its return in 2015, it was during this round of sickness he began to attend Maggie’s Oldham.
He said: “Back in 2000, there was no Maggie's and little support, I felt isolated- I felt at a loss, like there was something missing in my life, and it was that loss of identity and peer support.
“I think that’s something I can reflect on now and I know Maggie’s was missing.”
With a state-of-the-art centre built to help bring nature inside and promote a calming atmosphere, Maggie's provides support to anyone who has been affected by cancer.
Maggie's Oldham features a tree in the centre of the building, named the Tree of Life (Image: Jessica Rothwell)
James recovered from cancer in 2015, only for it to return once again in 2018.
After his treatment for this, James was told if his cancer was to return, then he would not be able to undergo any more surgery, as his body is not strong enough to withstand the trauma.
Before his surgery in 2018, he worked as a specialist nurse for a number of years.
The Shaw resident was attending Maggie’s again when one of the staff members approached him about setting up a men’s only support group, an idea he says he thought was great.
Since then, James has attended these meetings and he says it has helped him relieve a "burden".
He said: “It felt like there was something stuck inside my stomach, and then I went to the meeting and it felt fantastic, I felt strong.
“One of my aims is to promote Maggie’s for Men to come together and talk. Maggie’s isn’t just for men, it’s for anyone affected by cancer but I think historically men struggle to talk when they need help.
“Even within the group we’ve had one or two people who don’t initially feel comfortable talking, but after a period of coming to the group, those barriers have come down and they’ve opened to the point where you think- 'my god, this isn’t the same person that came into the group'.
Maggie's Oldham strives to keep a cosy feel to their centre (Image: Jessica Rothwell)
“This big ‘macho’ man that came in quite clearly wanted a platform to talk about how they felt, and to me it feels nice because there’s no judgement, no prejudice.”
James added that the group isn't simply focused on cancer, explaining: “You can talk literally about anything- sometimes we go a week without ever even talking about cancer, we’ll talk football, racing, politics- we tell jokes.
“Some weeks you go and cancer is the last thing on your mind, because it’s there to support people and it doesn’t matter how that works.”
The 66-year-old is now planning on doing a skydive for Maggie’s and is beginning his search for sponsors.
Those who want to donate to James' challenge can do so by searching JustGiving for 'James's fundraiser for Maggie's Centres'.
While particularly keen to secure sponsorships and donations from businesses in the area, he says he "needs as much support as possible" to help raise funds for Maggie’s.
James said: “I find that for us as a group who go regularly, our need for Maggie’s is still there, and if Maggie’s is there to provide that support, then we’ll continue to go
“For the support to still be there, Maggie’s needs to still be there and the only way we can do that is by raising as much funds as we possibly can and that’s why I’m doing the Skydive.
“I’m looking for as many people to sponsor me as possible- I’m not ashamed to ask for money, I know that things are tight and we’re in a financially terrible time for a lot of people, but it’s even more reason to keep Maggie’s going and to have that support.
“Cancer is almost like a pandemic, everybody knows someone who’s been affected by cancer, and it's not just the patient it affects, it’s everyone around them, their family and friends.”
The skydive is set to take place in September.
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