Michael says he "lived on" coffee during shifts working as a train driver. But it was that very habit that alerted him to the fact that he had cancer.
Michael was enjoying his favourite drink when he noticed sharp pains in the back of his throat. He went for a check-up and was told "the worst".
The diagnosis was throat cancer and soon Michael, 58, was in the midst of three months of "aggressive" treatment. For a man who says his job made him "feel alive", he was left struggling to walk up a street without feeling pain or tiredness, reports LeedsLive.
Michael had 35 sessions of radiotherapy and three cycles of chemotherapy, being hospitalised twice. He got the all-clear in February 2022.
Speaking to Leeds Hospitals Charity, Michael, who is from the city, said: "Being a train driver is the best job; it makes you feel alive every day. But in July 2021, my world turned upside down. I lived on coffee, but drinking it had started to give me sharp pains at the back of my throat. I got checked out and it was the worst-case scenario – throat cancer.
"As soon as I was diagnosed, the treatment clicked into place. I was really poorly, admitted to hospital twice and because of Covid I had no visitors. I had a feeding tube which I found really difficult. After treatment, I couldn’t walk to the top of the street, but slowly I began to build my strength back.
"I was looking forward to going back to work, when in April, I had a pulmonary embolism. It was the worst pain. I thought I was dying that day. The NHS saved my life. Looking back, I saw how incredibly lucky I was to survive it all."
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Michael is now on a mission to raise as much awareness of throat cancer as possible and is currently training for an event in aid of Leeds Hospitals Charity.
He said: "I’m now training for a 10-hour fundraising walk for Leeds Hospitals Charity as a way of saying thank you to all the incredible people who kept me alive. I just want to do anything I can to help them, to help pay for that extra equipment they need. It was hard being so ill, but I can’t praise the hospital staff highly enough."
Professor David Sebag-Montefiore, Audrey and Stanley Burton Professor of Clinical Oncology and Health Research; Director of Leeds Cancer Research Centre said in a statement: "The Leeds Cancer Centre is more than just a hospital for Leeds. We are one of the largest comprehensive cancer centres in the country, caring for patients across Yorkshire. We offer a specialist cancer service and world-leading research, while also providing emotional, physical and psychological support for our patients and their loved ones.
"Around 250 people a week come to our hospitals to be given a diagnosis of cancer. Our teams do everything they can to support every patient and their families during this incredibly difficult time. Cancer is a disease that touches all our lives. Although cancer survival has doubled over the last four decades, we want to go further and accelerate progress to make the biggest difference for our patients."
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