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Terry Walsh has suffered from both colon and skin cancer.
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Man who has fought off colon and skin conditions prepares for gruelling desert charity trek
Terry set for Sahara marathon in fight against cancer
WHEN Terry Walsh was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago he left his job as a dispatch rider in Kentish Town to become a diving instructor on the paradise islands off Thailand.
With his condition under control, Mr Walsh spent his days reeling in tropical fish from blue lagoons and soaking up the rays with his brother who had set up a sub aqua school on Phi Phi island.
Mr Walsh was on the safe side of the peninsula when the deadly tsunami struck on Boxing Day 2004. But the tragic loss of life on the islands still haunts him today.
“Everything was fine and then, next minute, it was devastating,” said the 49-year-old. “My brother lost everything. His dive school was totally wiped out. He was in shock for a long time.”
Mr Walsh returned to Camden but soon discovered a scratchy scab on his nose that wouldn’t go away.
“It was skin cancer,” he said. “I am told it is likely the sun in Thailand caused it. Luckily is was not one that spread.
“I had an Irish father and have fair skin, but I didn’t really know too much about skin cancer – apparently if you have fair skin and moles on your body, you are at risk.
“I once worked on a farm with some expats in the Far East and there were these Aussie guys. They get all kinds of public information about sun protection.
“Now I know I have to wear total block or factor 50 in the sun.”
Given this knowledge, the searing heat of the Saharan desert is probably not the best place for Mr Walsh. But that is exactly where he is going for a gruelling 100-kilometre trek on a fund-raising mission for the Macmillan cancer charity in March next year.
“It’s three days of walking in soft sand up and down 500-metre-high dunes and then across shale rock,” he said. “It will be around 30 degrees in the day, falling to a chilly zero at night.
“I’ll have a sleeping bag – but not a tent. We’ll be out against the elements.
“I wanted to give something back. I remember the nurses looking after my father and how important that was. He died of cancer 20 years ago.
“It’s not just nursing that they offer though. If you get depressed, or if you’re a single person, they can offer you counselling.”
Mr Walsh, an electrical engineer, came to Camden from the Isle of Man as a young man and lived as a squatter in Herbert Street and Allcroft Road in Kentish Town. He has worked in Italy, Germany, southern Italy, Switzerland and Holland.
Mr Walsh says he has had a lot of support from neighbours and traders in Delancey Street, where he has lived for 20 years.
“Everyone got involved – it’s a really good community up there in Camden Town,” he said.
Mr Walsh recently had plastic surgery to repair his scarred nose. The wound is now barely noticeable and he seems in high spirits while working at Concorde Cars in Fortess Road.
He says: “I’m sick of seeing all the negatives around me. I’ve started looking for the good in people and I want to put something back.”
Mr Walsh is dedicating his trek to his adoptive father and friend, Laurence Levan, a Hampstead businessman and cancer patient, who died on Thursday.
n For more information about the Macmillan Sahara Hiking Challenge or to sponsor Mr Walsh visit www.justgiving.com/terry-walsh
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