Wedding gift for fund from kind duo
AHUSBAND and wife who have both been diagnosed with cancer donated money from their wedding to the Christie at Macclesfield appeal.
Keith and Andrea Oldham, 59 and 46, asked guests at their marriage to donate money and raised more than £5,000.
Some of it had already been given to Macclesfield Hospital to buy surgical headlights. Now the remaining £2,760 has been handed over to the appeal.
Keith, a freelance IT consultant, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2017. He had surgery to remove the tumour at Macclesfield then chemo and radiotherapy at the Christie.
When, shortly before last September’s wedding, the cancer returned he had half a lung removed at Wythenshawe Hospital.
Then a few weeks before the couple were to hand the money over to the Christie, Andrea was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She will now have surgery followed by several weeks of radiotherapy at the Christie in Withington.
So both understand the benefit of a £23m cancer centre in Macclesfield as opposed to travelling from their home in Congleton to the current site in Withington.
Keith, a dad-of-three, said: “The Christie does amazing work with some very special dedicated staff who go out of their way to help you.
“I know exactly how gruelling it can be to not only go through daily radiotherapy every day for five weeks but to have the added stress of a long journey to and from Manchester.
“I know that being able to have treatment closer to home will make a huge difference to patients in the future.
“I only wish we had it now because very soon it will be my wife Andrea going through daily treatments in Manchester.
“The NHS staff at every level and every stage of my treatment have been wonderful, from the housekeepers to the consultants and radiographers who oversaw my care. I’ve experienced such wonderful humanity and I wanted to give a little back by fundraising. I’m also planning to write a book about my experiences to say thank you.”