Cancer survivor amputee becomes surfing champion

Stephen Downes found a gold ball-size lump in his neck in 2022 which was sarcoma cancer

A man from Cornwall has become a national surfing champion after he lost nearly a quarter of his upper body to a rare cancer.

Stephen Downes, 49, from Newquay, had his entire right arm, shoulder, collarbone, three ribs and part of his chest wall surgically removed after he was diagnosed with sarcoma cancer.

He found a golf ball-size lump in his neck in 2022, and said it was the exact spot he had Hodgkin lymphoma more than 20 years ago.

Mr Downes had previously been a stand-up surfer, but decided to start kneeboarding and kneel on his surfboard, and has now been crowned English kneeboard champion for two years in a row.

The day after Mr Downes found the lump in his neck he saw his GP.

He said he was told he would need a full forequarter amputation.

He said: “It was like an atom bomb going off in my head.

"I assumed I would be having chemotherapy. I never envisaged they would have to cut off my arm.”

Before the operation, he was told surgeons may not be able to remove the tumour and if they could not, he would have to be put on palliative care.

'Real eye-opener'

However in August 2022, ten weeks after he found the lump, surgeons removed the tumour the size of a mango which was between his clavicle and rib cage.

“I just felt relief at being alive,” he said.

“I often describe life as a recent amputee as similar to having a newborn baby.

"As with a baby, once you return home from hospital, you’re inundated with visits, calls and messages not only from friends and family but also from various healthcare professionals.

"However, much like with a new arrival, those calls and visits quickly come to an end once people know you’re doing okay.

"You are kind of on your own, left to figure it out for yourself and get on with it."

He said being an amputee "has been a real eye-opener".

Mr Downes has had nearly a quarter of his upper body amputated

Mr Downes, a telecoms engineer who lives with his wife and three children, now gives talks about resilience to schools in his area.

He also wants to raise awareness of sarcoma and the work of the charity Sarcoma UK.

He said: “The more I have learned about sarcoma, the luckier I feel, there are so many sad stories of people who don’t survive. It seems like a particularly malevolent cancer.”

Carly McDonald, support line advisor for Sarcoma UK, said: "Stephen embodies the resilience we often see in sarcoma patients, but his achievement in returning to championship-level surfing is extraordinary."