Surgeon who found son’s cancer joins him for cycle

Dominic Furniss works at a sarcoma treatment centre and was immediately able to identify his son Jasper's tumour

A leading surgeon who spotted that his own son had a rare and aggressive form of cancer in time to get him life-saving treatment is joining him for a charity bike ride.

Dominic Furniss, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Oxford University Hospitals, will be cycling with Jasper from Oxford to Barcelona.

He said the moment his son, then 17, asked him to look at a lump on his thigh was "the worst moment of my life".

Jasper had a rare form of sarcoma, but is now in remission after successful surgery to remove the tumour four weeks after it was found.

The father and son duo will cycle about 1,000 miles in 11 days from 27 August to 6 September with a team of 12 that includes some of Dr Furniss’s colleagues.

Jasper was diagnosed within two weeks and had successful surgery four weeks after the lump was found

Dr Furniss said his family were on holiday in Cornwall last October when he realised something was "badly wrong".

"It was a 7cm lump, looking like a large egg sticking out of his thigh, and it was deep. Immediately, I knew it was almost certainly sarcoma," he said.

"I can’t remember what I said to Jasper, but I then went into the bathroom and burst into tears.”

Dr Furniss, who works at one of the largest sarcoma treatment centres in the UK, said he immediately contacted a colleague and arranged a scan and biopsy for later that week.

Two weeks after finding the lump, Jasper was told he had myxoid liposarcoma.

There are an average of just 72 cases of this sarcoma subtype diagnosed per year in England, according to Sarcoma UK.

Jasper said his recovery was a "tough few months"

Jasper said: “I really appreciate what Dad did for me and how lucky I was to be diagnosed and treated so quickly."

He said he wanted to raise awareness and money for Sarcoma UK because of the support his family received.

"Their website was really useful and helped me. I have always cycled with my Dad and didn’t want my sarcoma to stop that,” he said.

Dr Furniss said: “I’m unbelievably grateful for having such amazing colleagues and I’m so grateful for the training I had which meant I knew what had to be done.

"The quicker people can get treatment when they find a lump, the better."

Dominic and Jasper Furniss are riding to raise money for Sarcoma UK