A Cupar man is to mark the 10th anniversary of being diagnosed with skin cancer by embarking on a 2,300km cycle across Europe.
Craig Black (42), a building standards surveyor with Fife Council, is cycling from Amsterdam to Milan from August 9-28 to raise “as much money as possible” for Cancer Research UK.
He will be joined by friend and colleague John Wilson (23), from Markinch, who works as a building standards inspector with Fife Council. Both fundraisers are former pupils of Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes.
Craig told The Courier that he wanted to do something special to mark the 10th anniversary of his treatment for malignant melanoma and to say thank you to the “first class” staff in the NHS who saved his life.
Craig was a fit and healthy 32-year-old when he went to see his doctor in April 2003 after pulling a ligament in his ankle while playing five-a-side football.
While at the surgery, he asked his GP to have a look at a small lump which measured around one centimetre across beneath the skin on his neck.
At first tests came back negative. But when, by July, the lump had swollen to the size of a golf ball, his doctor knew there was something more serious going on.
Tests revealed the lump on his neck was secondary cancer and the original source was eventually traced to the top of Craig’s right ear. It turned out the cancer had started to spread.
Craig underwent major surgery at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline to remove 56 lymph nodes from his neck and also lost the top of his ear.
After five years in remission, the cancer has been kept at bay.
Now, with the encouragement of his girlfriend Siobhan Honeyman (26), who works as a housing officer with Fife Council, he is well and truly up for the cycle challenge.
Craig said: “I was very lucky. There was nothing on top of my ear to suggest there was a problem.
“At first when the lump started I thought it was a boil and they would lance it and that would be that. However, thanks to the fantastic care I got at the NHS, they got to the bottom of it and my life was saved.
“I was supposed to be in hospital for two week but was out within four days. I didn’t require any chemo and was back at work after four weeks.”
Craig said he remembers getting badly sunburned on his ears when he was out on his bike as a 16-year-old. But otherwise, he has never been a sun-worshipper.
He does, however, try to take more care to cover up now when he’s out and about and will be putting on the sunblock for his cycle adventure across Europe.
He said: “I originally thought about doing a charity cycle across the four corners of Scotland but with the weather being so bad, we thought we might as well go somewhere warmer.
“Our route will take in seven countries Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. We’ll be doing about 65 miles a day, with a few mountainous days where we get up to 1,200 metres.
“It’s going to cost us a bit of money but I would emphasise that every penny donated will go to Cancer Research.”
Anyone who would like to donate should visit www.amsterdam2milan.com.
malexander@thecourier.co.uk