WORLD CANCER DAY 2022

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2022-02-04T07:39:59.223Z

WORLD CANCER DAY 2022

2022-02-04T07:39:59.223Z

Burnley Football Club and Burnley FC in the Community are proud to support World Cancer Day 2022.

World Cancer Day is on Friday 4th February, an annual day of action that supports people who have been affected by cancer as well as promoting research, raising worldwide awareness, and improving patient services.

Formed in 2000, World Cancer Day is led by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and has become a positive movement for everyone, everywhere to unite against cancer together.

The theme this year is to ‘Close the Care Gap’ which is all about the equality gap in services and treatments, throughout high, middle and low-income countries around the world.

To mark World Cancer Day, we will share the experiences of Club press officer Ellis Lee.

The weekend after finding out the new in December 2018, at Wembley stadium

Ellis was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma aged 20 in December 2018. He raised thousands of pounds and held a charity dinner before receiving the all-clear in September 2019.

He then started treatment at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds, spending time on ward J94, a specialist cancer unit for 18-25-year-olds.

Ellis said: “I was on an 18-25-year-olds unit for people who were there for various forms of cancer and type of treatments and the majority were there for chemotherapy.

“People react to it in different ways, and the nurses and the staff were always positive.”

His story gained national attention, and several professional players and clubs provided Ellis with signed shirts to be donated. The Burnley squad also contributed over £1,000 as a fundraising effort.

He continued: “It started at Manchester United, we played them in January on a Tuesday night and Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) invited me in after the game to meet some of the players and they all passed on their best wishes which was unbelievable. Then it followed suit at Brighton and every other ground I went to after that, chipping in with a shirt or speaking to a player, with every Premier League club and a lot of Football League clubs contributing towards the cause.

“The money that we raised (£25,000 for the ward) was unbelievable from what people donated for the shirts, so I just wanted to help people who do go through my situation at some point to help treatment.”

Ellis praised the Football Club for their support during his treatment.

He added: “Everyone around me made it a lot easier to cope with. The club offered me to have time off and still be paid, but I just wanted to carry on life as normal.

“The players, the staff and just everyone at the club were unbelievable. Sean Dyche would regularly ask me how things were and for just for a general check up on how I was, which was nice.

“It’s just a really good club. They were really good with me and I’m forever grateful for that."

Ellis finally added: “I was a young, fit, active lad, who to this day has never had a cigarette and the symptoms were simple things like a persistent cough, tiredness and fatigue.

"Cancer really doesn’t care how old you are or what your health is like, if you are unsure about anything with your body, get it checked out as it can save your life. Had I gone six weeks later to the doctors then when I did, they suggested I mat not have reached 2020.”