Cancer battle Tamworth man gets hospital award

A TAMWORTH man who has battled against cancer for 11 years has won an award from the hospital which has treated him for so long.

Paul Darby, aged 55, of Glascote, has been a long-standing patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

But despite his long illness, Paul served as a governor for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust for two years and now does volunteer work as a member of the trust.

He won the award for his continuing service to patients.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "He is seriously ill with liver cancer, but this has not stopped him being the first to volunteer to help run events and join committees, promoting the trust in the community and offering support to fellow patients."

Paul received his award from Birmingham's Poet Laureate, Charlie Jordan, who composed a poem for him on the night.

He told the Herald: "I feel a bit humbled. All the help I have received from people has made me want to help others – at the hospital, they haven't just gone the extra mile, they have gone the extra 10 miles.

"Helping other people has helped me cope with my own illness. There are people a lot worse off than me."

Paul, lives with his wife Annette and the couple have three children and five grandchildren.

It is believed his cancer is caused by a faulty gene.

"We think it's a problem on my father's side," he said. "My daughter, my sisters and some cousins and nephews have had their thyroid glands removed as a precaution.

"My cancer started in my neck but then secondary cancers spread elsewhere.

"It is a very slow cancer, but there's not much more treatment they can offer. My cancer will only get worse now. I'm just hoping for some magical cure.

"I was 43 when I was diagnosed and I was gobsmacked, I'd never been ill before. Every time I went to bed I thought I might not wake up again. But I have come to terms with it as well as I can now."