Former SAFC players Gary Bennett, Mick Harford and David Hodgson joined organiser Ron Hedley in a walk to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
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00:02 - Okay, then Gary, why don't you start a bit about
00:19 your situation, why you were so keen to get involved
00:21 in this march today.
00:22 - Yeah, my situation was that I didn't have any symptoms.
00:26 You know, we're talking about prostate cancer,
00:28 something which obviously was new to me.
00:31 It was only because I was getting up,
00:34 going to the toilet, which is a man's thing,
00:36 and my wife was encouraging me,
00:39 because I was 60, my ethnicity as well,
00:43 being black Afro-Caribbean, to go and get a test.
00:47 I went along to the doctors.
00:48 They didn't really want to give me a PSA.
00:50 They was asking me why.
00:52 I ended up having a blood test,
00:53 and they obviously come back,
00:55 and I was diagnosed with having prostate cancer.
00:58 And it was lucky for me, because we caught it early doors,
01:01 and I think that's the most important thing,
01:04 trying to raise the awareness.
01:05 You know, don't think, especially that you've got
01:09 to have the symptoms to be tested, you don't.
01:12 And the earlier you catch it,
01:14 the more opportunity you've got in regards of curing it.
01:17 - Okay, I make a noise, you're a Sunderland lad,
01:19 so obviously you've travelled up there to be involved,
01:20 so why were you so keen to come up today?
01:22 - Well, the reason for my involvement in today
01:26 is that we, myself, Ron and Gary,
01:29 decided to have a walk and raise awareness.
01:33 And the people of Sunderland, the people of the North East,
01:36 and countrywide, have been really, really supportive
01:40 of my problem and situation.
01:42 And we just want to give something back.
01:45 We want to try and help as many people as we can
01:46 in the North East.
01:47 And we're here to raise money,
01:50 but the money is not the most important thing.
01:52 The most important thing is to raise awareness
01:54 and get the word out there that the guys
01:57 go and get themselves checked.
01:58 You don't have to have symptoms to go and get checked.
02:01 Get to a certain age and go and get checked out.
02:04 And if you don't want to get checked out,
02:06 we know how proud the men of the North East are.
02:09 There is a risk checker on the prostatecancer.co.uk website,
02:14 so you can do that and see exactly where you are.
02:19 So, just want to say thanks to all the people
02:21 of the North East for the support they've given,
02:23 myself and Gary, and anyone else suffering
02:25 from prostate cancer.
02:27 Dave, yourself, why are you here today?
02:28 - To be honest here, the lads have just about
02:30 echoed everything in terms of awareness
02:33 for out there, for whether it be sports people
02:35 or Sunderland fans, or whatever fan of football
02:38 you're involved in.
02:40 I'm basically supporting that.
02:41 He's obviously a very close friend of mine,
02:43 and I'm here for him today to walk the five miles
02:46 and have a good chat about all the pastimes,
02:49 but obviously, most importantly,
02:51 is to bring awareness.
02:52 Wear the t-shirt on the walk,
02:53 make sure everyone sees it,
02:55 and hopefully raise sufficient funds
02:57 to put into the coffers for the charity.
03:00 - Jeff Stelling walk from Durham County Cricket Club
03:05 to the Stadium of Light, to the ground
03:07 on the other side of the river.
03:09 One or two will appreciate that.
03:12 A year later, I discovered I've got prostate cancer.
03:16 - Okay then, why don't we just start by asking
03:17 what today's event's all about then?
03:19 - Well, in 2017, I did a Jeff Stelling March for Men
03:24 from Durham Cricket Club to St. James' Park
03:28 via the Stadium of Light.
03:30 Discovered that because I had a brother
03:32 with prostate cancer, I was more likely to get it.
03:35 A year later, I discovered I'd got prostate cancer
03:38 and bone cancer, and felt I had to do something for men.
03:43 I play over-60s and over-70s cricket,
03:46 county cricket across the country,
03:49 and we had an audience to hit
03:52 to get awareness of prostate cancer.
03:54 One in eight men will get prostate cancer,
03:57 one in four black men, and in the northeast of England,
04:01 it's probably one in six, 'cause apparently,
04:03 northeast men don't go to the doctors.
04:06 And we're here, especially today,
04:08 with Durham Northumberland over-60s cricketers,
04:12 with Sunderland and Newcastle football people,
04:15 Mick Harford, Gary Bennett have joined us
04:18 to get this message out there that you need to get tested.
04:22 The thing about prostate cancer is
04:24 there aren't always symptoms.
04:26 There is a PSA test that you need to get and see.
04:30 We found out last night a lot of men won't go
04:33 for a PSA test 'cause they think it,
04:35 sorry to be crude, but the finger up the bum test,
04:39 the PSA test is a blood test.
04:41 The finger up the bum test comes
04:43 if they find problems with the blood test.
04:47 Most people will survive prostate cancer
04:50 if they get tested soon enough.
04:52 I have a friend who ignored it.
04:54 He's not gonna see Christmas, he's 67.
04:56 He knew he was unwell, for his own reasons,
05:01 chose to ignore it, and we won't see him again,
05:05 and he won't see Christmas.
05:08 So this is what today's all about,
05:10 and it's been the most fantastic turnout.
05:12 Michael at the museum, the Fans Museum,
05:15 has taken it on board, got it out on social media,
05:19 and I'm absolutely stunned to see the amount of people here.
05:24 This plan is that I came up with the idea
05:28 of doing a walk in every county
05:30 that plays over-60s county cricket.
05:33 That's 32 counties plus Wales.
05:35 This is the 18th walk we've done.
05:38 The plan is to end on my 75th birthday in September,
05:43 and the last walk, we've been told,
05:44 we can do at Lord's Cricket Ground,
05:47 and we're hoping the rest of the counties will come on.
05:51 We did some fundraising before we started this thing.
05:54 Last week, this topped 30,000.
05:58 What we did before, we're now over 50,000,
06:01 but more importantly than anything,
06:03 it's getting awareness out to people.
06:04 They need to be tested.
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