‘The pain is forgotten when you get to the top’
AIMING HIGH: Mike Wright. Picture by Neil Holmes Commercial Photography
Cancer survivor Mike Wright is climbing Ben Nevis to raise money for the unit that treated him at Castle Hill Hospital. He spoke to Simon Bristow about his journey so far
When Mike Wright begins his ascent of Britain’s highest mountain in August, he will have more reason than most to be relishing the challenge ahead.
That he will be there at all is testament to his determination and powers of recovery, and also to the skill and dedication of the medics in Hull who treated him for cancer.
Mike is tackling Ben Nevis as the latest in a series of fundraising efforts to “give a bit back” to staff at the Teenage Cancer Unit at Castle Hill Hospital.
He has come a long way since being “devastated” by his cancer diagnosis in 2019.
“I had a really bad cough and went to the doctor’s about three times,” said Mike, who works as a chef and butcher at Drewton’s Farm Shop near South Cave.
“I’d been sick and lost a little bit of weight. I’d just split up with my girlfriend so was going through a bit of stress over that. And when I don’t go to the gym I lose weight.
“They kept putting it down to bad acid reflux. Eventually they sent me for a chest X-ray and saw a shadow on my lung. It was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“They literally told me over the phone. The doctor rang me while I was at work and said ‘We’ve got your blood tests back and you’ve got lymphoma’. I didn’t know what it was; I didn’t think it was cancer.
“They referred me to Castle Hill for more scans there. They were a bit more sensitive when telling me. It wasn’t a shock by then. I already had a good idea. But they said it’s one that reacts best to treatment and has better outcomes.
“If it had been full-on lung cancer it might be a very different story. Obviously, I was still devastated.”
DIGGING DEEP: Mike Wright, who is raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Picture by Neil Holmes Commercial Photography
He then began a long and arduous period of treatment.
“I had chemotherapy for a couple of months then another scan,” said Mike. “They said the treatment was working, but there was a spot left so they intensified the treatment and put me on stronger chemotherapy for a couple of months.
“The scan was the same so then I had 15 sessions of radiotherapy. The first lot was alright but after a few sessions of the stronger stuff it took a bit out of me and I had to have a blood transfusion.”
The experience was made more difficult by the Covid pandemic, which served to remove him from the support network he would normally have been able to rely on.
Mike said: “The hardest part was going through the treatment and then going into lockdown, because I had been having treatment and was still able to see my friends and have a normal life.
“We’d just gone into lockdown when I started radiotherapy, maybe a week or two after.
“It was awful, having what I had. My mum was quite concerned to say the least. I was just stuck here. I’d go out to walk the dogs but that was it.”
But by August last year he was able to go on a camping holiday to Wales with friends, “so that took my mind off what the results were going to be”, he said.
He was able to climb Mount Snowden, which he said “surprised me because I’d been doing nothing for a year”.
SURPRISED HIMSELF BY CLIMBING MOUNT SNOWDEN: Mike Wright. Picture by Neil Holmes Commercial Photography
Mike describes scaling Wales’s highest mountain, which at its peak is 1,085 metres above sea level, as “quite tough”. But that perhaps does not quite do justice to the difficulty it presented after what he had been through.
Reaching the summit was worth all the effort, however.
Mike said: “I got nearly halfway and said ‘I need to turn back’. But I kept going – ten minutes walking then a break for ten minutes.
“Once you get to the top you are properly climbing, using your arms rather than just your legs.
“The view from Snowden is amazing; you can even see the sea. All the pain is forgotten when you get to the top. But it’s worse coming down…”
Mike returned from Wales to find he was cancer-free.
He described the feeling on being given the result as “just a massive relief, just a massive weight off my shoulders, going back to have a normal life and not worrying any more, as you can imagine. Just on top of the world”.
He had to return for scans at three-monthly intervals and have blood tests every four months. He is due another scan in August, and if that is clear the period between them may stretch to every six months, then annually.
Mike, who turns 27 on August 4, described the staff who treated him as “class”, and is now fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The trust funds the Teenage Cancer Unit at Castle Hill, including two members of staff in youth support coordinator Charlene Kent, and nurse Vic Walsh.
“Every time I had treatment they were there to talk to,” said Mike. “They were like mates. I could ring them up. The three nurses had a phone and if I had a problem I could ring them or text them.”
‘ALWAYS THERE FOR ME’: From left, staff nurse Vic Walsh, youth support coordinator Charlene Kent, and clinical nurse specialist Claire Swift
Mrs Kent said: “Mike’s a really laid back young man and really caring. During his cancer journey and diagnosis he just took it day by day. He asked the questions he needed to ask and just got on with it.
“It was difficult because of Covid because the rules changed. Mike wasn’t allowed to have anybody come into hospital with him during his treatment. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend a lot of the support groups and events we’d normally do, which is a main part of my role.
“But I’ve just rung him today to invite him on our first trip to an outdoor activity centre, with the Ellen MacArthur Trust.
“That’s why we try to step in and support people as much as we can, and keep in communication with the family.”
She added: “Mike was fantastic on the unit. One day he was having his treatment and then helping us decorate the Christmas tree.”
FESTIVE: Mike Wright with youth support coordinator Charlene Kent. Picture taken before social distancing requirements
Mike’s fundraising activities began with the sale of produce he grows in his garden, first vegetables, then bee-friendly flowers, and he is now focusing on plants that are popular with children, such as sunflowers, snapdragons, and marigold.
All his produce is seasonal and bio-friendly and can be bought through his Instagram page, DIRT_94.
He is still working on a book he began writing during his treatment, which was “going to be a cross between being about growing veg and a recipe book”.
This was in part to take his mind off his worries, but also as a means of promoting healthy eating.
As we sit in his garden in Hessle on a beautiful summer’s day filled with birdsong, there is abundant evidence of the keen gardener he has become - although he is keen to credit the advice he is able to gather from his grandmothers.
Mike is also in the process of setting up a business with help from The Prince’s Trust.
He will set up a Just Giving page a fortnight before he begins his trip to Scotland, and is inviting people to sponsor him to climb Ben Nevis. He can also be contacted through his Instagram page.
‘I WANT TO GIVE A BIT BACK’: Mike Wright, who is climbing Ben Nevis to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Picture by Neil Holmes Commercial Photography
He and his father, also called Mike, have already raised money for Hull hospitals charity WISHH.
Mike said: “I just want to give something back. When I saw first-hand exactly what they do, it does make you want to give a bit back.”
Claire Swift, a clinical nurse specialist who also manages the unit, said: “It makes such a massive difference to us.
“We are so lucky we get so many charitable donations so we can help young people make the best of a bad situation; whether that’s a takeaway or a trip to Alton Towers, or a night out bowling, so they can meet other young people going through the same thing.
“The Teenage Cancer Trust says the best help for a young person with cancer is another young person with cancer, and funding just provides that extra support.
“We support people for as long as they need it. We find patients need more support once they have finished their treatment. We look after people while they are having their treatment and for at least a couple of years after their treatment.”
Mike and his friends will begin their climb of Ben Nevis on August 14 – nearly a year to the day since he received the all-clear.
The summit, at 1,345 metres above sea level, will seem a long way off. But Mike has already overcome bigger challenges.