Barrow great-grandfather marks 10 years of cancer with walking challenge

Ralph White's wife Lynn suggested two miles a day might be more realistic than 10

A great-grandfather is marking 10 years of living with cancer with a 10-day walking challenge just weeks after having a major operation.

Ralph White, 75, had surgery for a prostate sarcoma in 2012 and a tumour was found in his bowel last year.

He was discharged 10 days ago from Manchester's Christie Hospital, where he spent Christmas.

Mr White, from Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, said he felt "so lucky to be alive".

"If I can live another 10 years that means I'll see a lot more of the kids, the great-grandkids and this [walking challenge] means that I'm determined to do that," he said.

Mr White, who has three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, plans to walk two miles each day.

Ralph White said he wanted to spend another 10 years with his family

He had originally suggested to his wife he could walk 10 miles a day to reflect his 10 years living with cancer and the 10 days since being discharged.

"And she said, 'don't be a bloody idiot - there's no way you're going to walk 10 miles after being out of hospital for 10 days with major surgery'," he said.

Mr White is raising money for Derian House, a children's hospice which provides end-of-life care to 400 young people and their families across Lancashire, south Cumbria and Greater Manchester.

"This is my second major cancer and you look and you see kids of five, six, seven, eight who aren't gonna live for another couple of years because of it," he said.

"And you just say, blimey, let's try and do something."

Mr White has had a colostomy and urostomy, which mean waste from his bladder and bowels is collected in a bag outside his body.

"I feel very lucky that I can still carry on with a fairly normal life and I haven't got to worry about looking for a toilet," he joked.