Dave’s £3,000 thanks for lifesaving care

SWIFT treatment after Shaw businessman Dave Bullock discovered he had cancer set him on the road to recovery.

And as a way of saying thank-you for the care he received, the 53-year-old owner of Shaw Mini Buses staged a fund-raising event that raised thousands of pounds for the haematology unit at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Mr Bullock got the shock news that he had cancer less than two days after he was taken ill with a severe sore throat last year.

He took medication prescribed to him by Go to Doc, Oldham’s out-of-hours GP service, but went back the following day when he was convinced it was something more serious.

They sent him straight to the Royal Oldham Hospital’s accident and emergency department, where he had an x-ray, then transferred to Fairfield Hospital, Bury, for surgery.

Within three weeks, he was told he had tumours in his neck and his groin, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, underwent surgery and started a course of chemotherapy.

“I waited for nothing,” said the father-of-four. “They were as quick as they possibly could be and I am grateful for that.”

Mr Bullock, who is in remission after finishing a course of chemotherapy earlier this year, said he couldn’t have got through the ordeal without the support of his partner and four daughters, Stacey (30), Adele (28), Nadia (26) and Kate Bullock (17).

And it was with their help that he set about organising the fundraising evening to raise money for the haematology unit to say thank-you to the people who helped to save his life.

Held at the Soccer Village, Milnrow, it raised a huge £3,000, and was supplemented by £130.50 raised by his aunt, Norma England, with a sponsored swim.

Dave said: “When you have had treatment like I had you feel like giving something back.

“Each bag of chemotherapy costs about £1,000 and I had 12 of them. It’s a lot of money to take out and I wanted to do something in return.”

Dave, of Fraser Street, Shaw, who also has five grandchildren, handed the proceeds over to Jan Bolton, fundraising manager for Pennine Acute Trust, which runs the hospitals where he was treated.