'Just give me whatever treatment gives me the best chance of seeing my kids grow up'

The Wakefield dad asked the doctors to give him the best chance to see them grow up.

Almost three years later, Alex is cancer-free and loving what he calls his “annoyingly normal” life – from ferrying his two kids to countless sports clubs to conquering the London Marathon.

Alex, 48, was diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer in November 2022 and had surgery in January 2023. He ran the London Marathon for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation last year.

He said: “When I found out I had lung cancer, my honest answer was ‘just give me whatever treatment gives me the best chance of seeing my kids grow up’.

“I’m one of those people who has always been sporty.

“Running became a huge thing for me during lockdown. I went from 5k to 10k to half marathon and then had the dream of running the marathon.

“If I hadn’t been pushing myself to that degree I definitely wouldn’t have found out I had lung cancer. It was just something I could tell when I was at full tilt.

“Everything goes blank, you go a bit numb, you just know your life’s changed from that second. I had half a lung removed essentially.

“Once my recovery had got to a certain point running became my saviour. The marathon was always then the plan.

“The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation was absolutely brilliant, they’re full of lovely people. They did London Marathon places, and it was at that point that the stars all aligned.

“They did the really nice thing of setting up a WhatsApp group. We all had one uniting cause and that was that we were all going to run the London Marathon for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

"There were a couple of us in there who were survivors and we almost took on the role of unwitting heroes or beacons for the other guys. The group is still open now over a year after we finished so it was just really nice that we had that community all the way through.

“You realise that every day that you have now is very precious and life should be lived.

"I’m living hope because two and a half years ago I hoped just to still be here. Two and half years later and life is annoyingly normal.

"Not only am I seeing my kids grow up but I get to take a very active part in them doing so. I’ve just got to live life, stay healthy, stay happy, take what I’ve got, and I’ll run.”

Alex is sharing his story as part of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s campaign as it releases 15 truths about the disease saying stigma and misinformation is ‘killing people’.

Chief Executive Paula Chadwick said: “Lots of people still think that if you don’t smoke, you won’t get lung cancer.

"This myth, along with others, is killing people by contributing to the stigmatizing of patients, delaying of diagnoses and obstruction of access to early care.

“Research by the Global Lung Cancer Coalition shows that one in four people in the UK can’t name a single symptom of the disease and lots of the things people think they know are often inaccurate or exaggerated.”

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation - which was founded in 1990 and provides information, finances research and supports people affected by lung cancer - says that in fact around 28% of diagnoses are in people who have never smoked.

Paula said: “We know that 37 per cent of the British public feel less sympathy for people with lung cancer than other types of cancer, which most people do not realise is actually the biggest cancer killer in the UK and kills more people than breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers combined.

“That we need to say this is very sad - whoever you are, no one deserves lung cancer, and no one should feel embarrassed or stigma around having the disease.”

‘This is lung cancer’ 15 truths about lung cancer in 2025

1. Got lungs? Get checked: The disease can affect anyone so if you have lungs and are concerned you should get checked.

2. No one deserves this: No one chooses cancer and no one should be blamed for it.

3. Can you name one? One in four people in the UK don’t know a single lung cancer symptom.

4. Number one cancer killer of women lung cancer kills more women than breast and ovarian cancer combined and is the second most common cancer for both men and women.

5. Spot it early = live longer people diagnosed at the earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.

6. Stigma kills: Stigma delays or even stops diagnosis which leads to worse outcomes.

7. Screening saves lives: Three-quarters of cancers found through screeningare caught early.

8. Diagnosis isn’t the end: Many people live and live well after lung cancer.

9. No discrimination: Lung cancer does not discriminate by age - figures show 10 per cent of lung cancers occur in people under 55 – or by gender or sexuality.

10. Never smoked: Around 28 per cent of incidences are not caused by smoking. Other causes include workplace exposure (13 per cent), air pollution (eight per cent) and radiation (five per cent).

11. No cough? Still check Not everyone with lung cancer will have a cough, know all the signs.

12. Living proof people with lung cancer are still parents, friends, lovers, colleagues and members of our community, not just patients.

13. Survivor not statistic: Stats tell trends. People tell stories — and they’re rewriting the odds.

14. Act now. Livel longer 75 per cent of people diagnosed with lung cancer through screening are caught at an early stage.

15. From diagnosis to finish line: Some people don’t just survive lung cancer, they run marathons after a diagnosis with it.