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Having not regularly ridden a bicycle since passing her driving test 56 years ago, Janice Houghton-Wallace has set herself the challenge of not only getting back on a bicycle again but training to take part in a cycle time trial challenge as part of the Tour of Cambridgeshire Cycling Festival at Peterborough on 2 June 2018.
Son Robbie bought Janice a new road bike last summer and she is aiming high by trying to qualify to represent GB in her age group at the Golazo World Cycling Championships in Italy later in the year.
“Training is hard but I have set myself this challenge in memory of my brother Stephen, who died 8 years ago from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma,” says Janice.
“I cared for my brother after he was diagnosed with this disease and given between 8 – 12 months life expectancy. We think he was exposed to asbestos when 17 years old whilst helping build a new piggery on the farm in the 1960s. Forty one years later this horrific cancer took hold and I witnessed someone I love suffer horrendous, uncontrollable pain.”
Janice looked after Stephen at her home in Scotland having been trained to help him by Papworth Hospital but this along with local medical care eventually was not good enough. “I never want to see another human being suffer so,” said Janice. He spent his remaining two weeks of life at the Alexander Unit of Dumfries Hospital and the staff were wonderful, allowing special ‘friends’ to visit – and my little Jack Russell dog Jasper instinctively jumped on the bed and lay down by Stephen’s side at the end, with his head on Stephen’s hand.
There had still been brief moments of Stephen’s humour though such as “This ward is like a first class hotel room, it’s as good as being on holiday…. pity I’m not well”.
Liz Darlison, Head of Services for Mesothelioma UK said: “Supporters of Mesothelioma UK never cease to amaze us. Janice’s cycle race really is up there with some of the best. It is a testament to their relationship that eight years after losing her brother Stephen, Janice is looking to support a related charity. We really are very grateful and of course so inspired by her actions. Good luck Janice and we look forward to celebrating you completing the race.”
Please help Janice raise money to train more mesothelioma specialist nurses. “We desperately need to educate people that asbestos cancer is NOT a thing of the past and more support and targeted treatment is needed. I cannot bear to think of others suffering in the way my brother did and it is through voluntary donations that this specialist support is funded,” says Janice.
Janice’s fund raising page is at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JaniceHoughtonWallace
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral once highly regarded for insulation and fire-retardant properties. Asbestos linked to lung disease has been known since the early 18th century.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs, known as the mesothelium. The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Around 2,600 people die from mesothelioma each year in the UK.
Although considered rare, diagnoses are expected to rise because of heavy use of asbestos in industry from 1945 for the mid 1970s. Once inhaled, a fibre will sit in the lining of the body for up to 60 years before manifesting itself in this mostly incurable and aggressive cancer and the risk is higher if you are exposed before the age of 30.
The use of blue, brown and white asbestos was banned in 1999 in the UK but it remains in schools and hospitals as well as other industrial premises and in older homes being renovated – it is even in artex ceilings. Malcolm McLaren of the punk group the Sex Pistols and film star Steve McQueen both died from mesothelioma.
Contact:
Janice Houghton-Wallace, Cults Farmhouse, Whithorn, Newton Stewart, DG8 8HA
Tel: 01988 600763
Mob: 07860 547094
Email: janhwallace@aol.com