Comedian Richard Herring 'given hope of seeing kids grow up' after testicular cancer surgery
Channel 4 Taskmaster's Richard Herring has pledged to raise money for Stevenage's Lister Hospital after testicular cancer surgery - Credit: Archant
Stand-up comedian Richard Herring has vowed to raise money for Stevenage's Lister Hospital, following successful surgery to remove testicular cancer.
Richard, who is the current champion of Channel 4 game show Taskmaster, had one of his testicles removed last month after discovering a lump doctors later confirmed as cancerous.
Describing the day of surgery at Lister, the dad-of-two wrote in his Warming Up blog: "It was nerve-wracking, but the staff were exemplary and funny and friendly. They have given me the hope of seeing my kids grow up and leave home, and the prospect of some time to myself once they’re gone.
"Let’s raise some money for these guys. I’ll be doing something for Lister Hospital and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre."
As well as raising money, Richard also hopes to raise awareness of the importance of people getting to know their bodies and seeing a GP if they notice any changes.
The 53-year-old said: "The danger from testicular cancer comes from ignoring it or not noticing it in the first place, so thank God I only delayed by a few days before getting in touch with my GP, and thank God he still sent me to be scanned even though he was fairly certain it was nothing to worry about.
"I don’t know how long the cancer had been secretly creeping deep inside, or if I missed the chance to spot this earlier, but luckily it doesn’t seem like that has put me in any more jeopardy.
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"This is definitely a wake-up call and I hope I can help get people talking about stuff like this and checking their bits."
Richard says the cancer in his testicle had not spread, but he will be undergoing precautionary chemotherapy to reduce the chance of the cancer returning from one-in-four to one-in-20.
He said: "I’d rather stay alive, but if I got run over tomorrow I’d be more grateful for the 53 years I’ve had than the 20 or so I might have lost, and feel lucky that I’d got to spend these years with my children, even if I’d be sad that I wouldn’t get to see what happens next.
"I am the luckiest man on earth for having got to spend any time with these champions, but at some point you don’t get to see what happens next. There’s no way of avoiding that. It’s not a bad thing to be reminded of."
