Father Ed Hone was just 27 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, 35 years ago.
Fr Hone, who severed as a priest at St Benet's in Sunderland during the 1990s and spent time at Durham University, found his strict Catholic upbringing made it difficult to talk about his illness - given it's intimate nature - but that falling ill when he did changed his life, and despite struggling with depression, ended with him feeling a "completely different person and a better priest".
Fr Hone features in a new video campaign from male cancer charity Orchid - launched in Newcastle this week in partnership with charity Healthworks, based here - in which his struggles to come to terms with his illness, and reconciling it with his faith and his calling as a Catholic priest, are dramatised. Now past 60, he said he felt it was vital to share his story, and encourage people to be open and seek support for illnesses they may be embarrassed about.
