Northampton man with throat cancer records 'cathartic' podcast

Mick Jackson has been through radiotherapy and chemotherapy and wants to help others sufferers

A man diagnosed with throat cancer in March has started a podcast to help other sufferers through their journey with the disease.

Mick Jackson, from Northampton, has worked with Northants Cancer Information Hub to put it together.

He plays his ukulele in the episodes and has called the podcast "The Mad Englishman with the little guitar & The Big C".

He described the experience of producing it as "cathartic".

Mick Jackson plays his ukulele on the podcast

Mr Jackson felt a lump in his neck about a year ago, and believed he just had swollen glands.

The lump grew, so he went to his doctor and, by March, he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

'Not like movies'

"I had a session of chemo each week and then 30 sessions of radiotherapy where they bombard the area with X-rays and that sort of thing, and that finished in June," he said.

He told BBC Radio Northampton he was now feeling much better, although "it's not quite the way you see it in the movies".

"They say 'here's your scans and it's all clear', [but] there's always little caveats," he said.

Mr Jackson decided he wanted to do something to help people diagnosed with cancer cope with their diagnoses or treatments, so he contacted the Macmillan Cancer Information Service at Northampton General Hospital.

They had already worked with another cancer patient to put a podcast on their YouTube channel, and were keen to try another one.

• Ex-cancer surgeon treated for disease for third time

• Teenage cancer patient fulfils rugby 'dream'

• 'We'll struggle to cut waiting times without AI'

Mr Jackson said his podcasts help with some of the challenges people will face.

"If you know somebody who's lost a partner or something like that, it's always really difficult to go and say to them 'how are you?', but, as soon as you've said 'look, I'm really sorry about your news', then it can open up and you can talk to people," he said.

"There's a few examples in the podcast of how to overcome those issues."

Although he has had to give up singing, Mr Jackson still plays his ukulele and said he could not resist doing so on the podcast.