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In memory of Kev Maddy

Kev was a man who devoted himself to helping others not for
personal gain but for the intrinsic reward he enjoyed when he was able to make another person happy.

In 2019 I developed testicular cancer whilst undertaking some other significant challenges in my life. During this time there was one person who propped me up and who spent an inordinate amount of time listening to my ramblings. After a turbulent couple of years, I eventually got the all-clear and resumed my life much as I had before. During this time my good friend tragically got diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the oesophagus and whilst he was effectively handed a death sentence he refused to accept it and continued to fight and maintain a positive mindset throughout his illness. Kev was handed at best 6 months to live but he went on fighting for two years and despite slowly being starved he managed to stay active right until the last few weeks of his illness. Kev survived for two years but this disease had finally beaten one of us.

Cancer is indiscriminate and is taking one life too many from us, leaving loving families and friends behind to try and consolidate what is lost but knowing life will never be the same again.

After getting the all-clear for my cancer I thought my life could
resume pretty much as it had previously. I had always battled with my weight, but I got myself down to a healthy 12 and a half stone in early 2021. I had cut out the heavy drinking which had been a regular occurrence and I regularly walked with Kev setting challenges on the local Wrekin Hill. Kev’s eventual illness reduced our walks and whilst my drinking had lowered my activity levels eventually diminished. Over the course of 18 months, I have seen my weight slowly increase by three stone. I am not the heaviest I have ever been but in
the past, my weight was evenly distributed across my body. Sadly, now, this weight sits on my mid-section which is a by-product of slightly lower testosterone levels. Even though I won round one with cancer it continues to leave a mark on me today both in the loss of my friend and the devastating effect it has had on my body.

I miss my friend, but I am done feeling sorry for myself, I  now understand that I can no longer maintain the life I once enjoyed and if I am to maintain my health, I need to make radical and permanent changes in recognition of the damage caused by cancer. To that end, I have decided to take on a fitness challenge which can’t fail to bring my weight back under control whilst also honouring Kev. I am going to be getting a little bit of help from a colleague to complete this challenge and I will also be opening it up to other people at my workplace to assist me.

The challenge

On the 15th of November 2022, I will be embarking on the hardest challenge of my life. I will endeavour to row for 8 hours only stopping
to take on sustenance and for brief recovery periods. My ambition is that with the assistance of colleagues cheering me on and rowing alongside, I will attempt to row the channel and back or further during the 8-hour duration covering 42 nautical miles. Other persons rowing alongside will use their own rowing machine in order that my own total can be determined separately. 

To put this challenge into context, I am probably closer to 4 stone overweight, and my fitness and strength levels are at an all-time low.
My trouser size is a very tight 38 inches and my current rowing levels are at best feeble. I have purposely set the date in September to allow me time to train. My regime must be strict to facilitate the necessary transformation needed to complete this challenge, anything less and I will fail.

The charity

I know that times are hard, and most people will barely be
able to support themselves at present but anything you can spare will help to spur me on. If nothing else, please give me encouragement as I will be reporting on my training and progress over the next three months. I want to see cancer eradicated; new medications are being discovered every day but none of this would be possible without the hard work that goes into research. To that end, my chosen
charity for this event will be in aid of Cancer research. Kev once quoted the great Dawley man Captain Webb who said “nothing great is easy”. Hopefully, you will approve of this one mate. “To the rower”  

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Update November 5th 2022

The long training sessions are complete, next week is a deload week before the main attempt. I need all the help and support I can get.

I am hopeful that friends and colleagues from across the MOD will come and support me on the day. On the 19th of November, we celebrate International Men's health day. We will be putting out collection buckets near to the rowing machines for colleagues to make cash contributions which will be collected at the end of the row by the MDP D+I team.