Best Wishes to Colin Bloomfield 21:49 - Sep 26 with 2689 views | RamsTrust | From all of us at RamsTrust and RamZone http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Radio-Derby-presenter-Colin-Bloomfield-diagnosed BBC Radio Derby presenter Colin Bloomfield today announced he will be taking some time off as he undergoes treatment for skin cancer. The breakfast show host announced that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer after finding a lump. He will undergo further tests to see if the cancer has spread to his lungs. Colin, who lives in Derby city centre, took over at the helm of the flagship show from Phil Trow earlier this year. He previously worked at Radio Derby on the 4pm until 7pm drive show, Sportscene and covered Derby County matches home and away. From tomorrow Ian Skye will temporarily present the show. Speaking on Radio Derby this morning, Colin — who previously beat cancer after a diagnosis in 2001 — told colleague Sally Pepper that if the cancer has spread to his lungs, it would be “desperately unfair”. The 31-year-old said: “In 2001, I didn’t think anything of this mole. It was only when my mum said to me to get it checked out that I did. This second lump that I found a few months ago, I found at 5am in the morning as I was getting ready to do my breakfast show. It was only the size of a pea but immediately the alarm bells were ringing. I did my breakfast show and then got it checked out in Birmingham that day. It’s never fair when you get cancer. But if it is stage four melanoma it feels desperately unfair because we hear all these messages about getting it checked out early. I couldn’t have got it checked out any earlier. “In some respects, I’m quite lucky in the sense I’ve not been told I’ve got three months to live. They’ve said to me there is no cure but there are treatments that can prolong my life. But with all due respect, I’m 31 — I’m not interested in living until I’m 33 or 34. I’ve got a good job and good friends and family — I’m interested in living until I’m 80. Why would I want to live to 34 or 35 — what sort of consolation prize is that? I’m going to fight this — I want to live for another 40-50 years.” Colin went on to say it did not feel like he is battling cancer. He said: “I don’t feel ill. If you put me on a treadmill in a gym I would probably beat most people. If it has spread (to my lungs), then it has done so without me knowing. It’s like a silent killer. It feels quite abstract. “When I was told, that’s when it was toughest mentally. I was told on a Thursday and I was very stressed about it. I woke up on the Sunday and couldn’t breathe; my lungs felt very tight. I went outside and I was crying — I thought ‘oh God, this is now my life’. My dad came out and put his arm around me and we went off to A&E to see what it was all about. There, they told me it wasn’t anything apart from utter stress and anxiety. “If it has spread to my lungs, we will deal with it. I just want to get to that day when they tell me I’m cancer free. At the moment I can’t plan my life because I don’t know what the next two years will be.” The presenter has been inundated with goodwill messages since announcing on air this morning that he is fighting cancer. | |
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