AN entrepreneur is offering 100 free MRI scans after his dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Around one in eight men will develop the cancer in their lives, which can be treatable, if caught early by a scan.
But 38-year-old Robin Emerson’s father Alan, 64, wasn’t one of the lucky ones and is now battling the advanced condition.
As a result, the founder of London and Essex based Jorja Healthcare has partnered with cancer support community nowwhat.health, to give away potentially life-saving MRI scans that usually cost £350 each – worth a total value of £35,000.
Anyone with a high PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test result can apply for one of the tests, until all 100 are booked.
But there will be a further 1,000 MRI scans made available for just £100 to others.
READ MORE ON PROSTATE CANCER
Robin Emerson said: “My mum, Linda, phoned me in tears and told me that dad had been diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer and it had already spread to his bones.
“It was May 2016, and Dad was 64 at the time and had always been fit and healthy.
“It was a huge shock, especially as initial tests had suggested Dad was in the low-risk group.”
Unfortunately, by this point, the tumours on the outside of Alan’s prostate were inoperable, and had metastasized.
He was in immense pain, and had to be immediately referred to palliative care, after an emergency spinal operation left him wheelchair-bound.
Robin, from Belfast, said: “I’m so proud of my dad, who had been planning a full and happy retirement with my mum.
“He continues to battle his condition, and the love of his granddaughters gives him strength.
“We live one day at a time, grateful that Dad is still with us.
“Because prostate cancer is often hereditary, I get my PSA levels checked regularly in order to try and identify any potential problems in their infancy.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has reported that prostate cancer, a male-only disease, was now the most common cancer diagnosed in England.
Overall, one in eight men will develop prostate cancer, usually after the age of 50 – and for Black men this risk doubles to one in four and from an earlier age.
While the number of men dying from prostate cancer totals more than 10,000 every year.
Inspired by his father and the prevalence of prostate cancer, as well as the need for early detection, Robin has decided to take action.
He said: “Education on prostate awareness is key.
“Not many people are aware that an MRI scan can identify various prostate issues, including cancer.
“Family is everything to me and seeing what Dad’s been through has driven me to help others.’
One in eight men will get prostate cancer
The risk of developing prostate cancer depends on many factors, here are some of the facts about the disease and how many men it affects.
- One in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime
- It is the fourth most common cancer worldwide, and the most common in men
- There are 55,000 new cases every year in the UK, and 1.4million globally
- Around 12,000 people lose their lives to prostate cancer annually in the UK and almost 400,000 around the world
- Prostate cancer accounts for 28 per cent of all new cancer cases in men in the UK, and 14 per cent of all new cancer cases in men and women combined
- Prostate cancer survival has tripled in the last 50 years in the UK
- More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of patients survive for 10 or more years
- About 490,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in the UK
- It is most common in men aged 75 to 79
- Since the early 1990s, cases have increased by 53 per cent in the UK
- Mortality rates are up 16 per cent since the early 1970s in the UK
- Incidence rates are projected to rise by 15 per cent in the UK between 2023 to 2025 and 2038 to 2040
- Mortality rates are expected to fall five per cent in the UK over the same years
Source: Prostate Cancer UK, World Cancer Research Fund International and Cancer Research UK
