Last year, my Grandad John sadly passed away from prostate cancer. He had a hard slog for the last five years of his life facing off against cases of pneumonia as well as the cancer, which changed his life and, eventually, cruelly took him from us.

John had, as all who knew him would testify, a rock-star’s attitude to life; he went through it with his foot hard on the accelerator. He was full of joy, wanting to socialise all the way up to his final days, be it at the pub with his friends or around the dinner table with his family; his glass was always at least half full, often to the brim!

However, he was also a fighter; from his younger days as a decorated rower, to his later years where he battled serious illness with everything he had, all the while keeping a smile on his face and ours. Patrick and I are hoping that we can take inspiration from John along with others we have lost as we face the biggest challenge of our lives so far, the Barcelona Iron Man in October 2020.

The idea came about after we finished running the Bournemouth marathon and thought to ourselves, ‘that was truly horrendous… so let’s definitely swim and cycle for a combined 100+ miles as a warm-up next time.

A 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride with a marathon to follow is certainly a daunting prospect, especially given that most of our training will now have to be done in isolation, and there doesn’t seem to be a Yahoo Answers page for ‘how to train for a 140 mile race in a 140 square foot garden’. On the plus side though, Paddy’s been inadvertently social distancing for years, so he’s actually more motivated than ever.

Joking aside, I’m sure most of you reading this will know or have known someone like my Grandad John, whose body has been devastated and life taken away by cancer. That’s why Patrick and I are putting our (kind of) fit and healthy bodies through hell to raise money for the Movember Foundation, who support the men and their families who are struggling against the terrible illness, which took his life.

Some men don’t even make it as far through life as John though; suicide and testicular cancer are the two biggest killers of young men. The Movember Foundation’s aim is to raise awareness about and fund research to fight testicular cancer, as well as bring men’s mental health out of the shadows of shame and suppression.

Here are some key facts about prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s mental health:

• 1 in 8 UK men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life, but if it’s detected early, the survival rate is 98%. If the cancer spreads, that drops to 26%. Early detection saves lives!

• Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer amongst young men, but 83% of men aren’t aware of this fact. Like prostate cancer, early detection means a 95%+ chance of survival. You should be checking your testicles! (Top tip, wait until you’re by yourself to do this to avoid strange looks…)

• Globally, 75% of suicide cases are men, and for every person who commits suicide, 20 more attempt to take their own life. ‘Manning up’ and ‘toughing it out’ alone isn’t the only option, and it’s not even a good one; it’s okay to not be okay.

Your support will go towards keeping men like John alive for longer, as well as countless others, both young and old. Thanks to the amazing work the Movember Foundation do (https://uk.movember.com/mospace/13900058?utm_medium=app&utm_source=ios&utm_campaign=share-mospace). They have funded more than 1,250 men’s projects for their causes, and you can help that number keep rising.

Thank you for reading and please donate what you can, if you can.