'Nature got me through leukaemia'

Stewart Abbott runs birdwatching tours to help people identify and learn more about plant and animal species

A former shop manager has explained why he quit his job to lead birdwatching tours after surviving leukaemia.

Stewart Abbott, from Belper, Derbyshire, was diagnosed with hairy cell leukaemia in 2018.

The 56-year-old underwent months of treatment, which included isolating at the Royal Derby Hospital.

Mr Abbott, who has been a birdwatcher since he was eight, said during his treatment he had relied on one window to give him glimpses of nature.

"I had one little window and was hoping that a woodpigeon or something would fly past to give me that connection with wildlife," he said.

Mr Abbott was initially forced to isolate, both at the hospital and at his home, while undergoing chemotherapy.

Lisa Brown, from Mickleover, has been a carer for her husband for 15 years

He then spent further a further spell in isolation while waiting to be given the all-clear after being prescribed an experimental drug, before having to shield during the pandemic.

During that time, he began making daily YouTube videos on the nature in his garden.

He said: "Without the wildlife, without everything that it gives me, I'd have found it very, very difficult.

"My mental health would have suffered enormously, but it didn't. I felt positive every day because I was out in that garden."

The drug was a success and, after nine months of treatment, he returned to his job as a manager at a white goods shop.

But in April 2022 he set up a company - Derbyshire Bird Tours - taking people on bird watching and wildlife tours at weekends.

In 2023, he decided to quit his job to focus on the tours.

"You never know how short life can be, and I was close to it, so for me this is a dream come true," he said.

One of the services to have used Mr Abbott's walking tours is Universal Services for Carers - a service jointly funded by Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board and Derby City Council.

He led a group of unpaid carers on a walk around Foremark Reservoir in South Derbyshire.

Lisa Brown, 59, from Mickleover, has been a full-time carer for her 61-year-old husband Mike, who has a degenerative spinal condition, for 15 years.

She said: "Today is time out for me.

"It's just talking to people who are in a similar situation really and not having the worry of time, thinking 'oh, I've got to get back to do this or do that'."

Anthea and Bill Graham, from Derby, say getting out into nature is therapeutic for them

Anthea Graham, from Derby, cares for her husband Bill, 69, who has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which the lungs become scarred, making breathing difficult.

Mrs Graham, 62, said: "I find it very refreshing and therapeutic.

"It's lovely to be amongst people, a bit of social contact because the disease can be very socially isolating and it gets more so as it progresses. It's lovely to talk about happy things and joyful things."

Mr Graham added: "Walking distances is particularly hard work, but it's nice to have these kind of things to come to. It was nice and gentle today."