Source: FOOTYMAD
Ashley - Take A Long Hard Look At The Man You Will Never Be!
Mike Ashley arrived at St James' Park saying he wanted to follow in the footsteps of former Newcastle owner Sir John Hall. Boy did we get a shock! Sadly, we hear today that Sir John Hall is battling prostate cancer. Hall, 77, says the illness represents the “fight of his life”, but one he is determined to win. Doctors have told him the condition cannot be cured, but it can be slowed with treatment. The multi-millionaire, who made his fortune building the Metrocentre in Gateshead, found out about the illness by chance, when he underwent a routine blood test. Sir John Hall: “I just went for a routine test and found out I had aggressive prostate cancer. “Since then I’ve just been trying to come to terms with it. I will need to go in for treatment. I’ll be having radiotherapy. “I’ve been in for X-rays on the cancer ward and had it confirmed. It’s another battle I’m going to fight. They can’t cure it, all they can do is try and slow it down. “You have to try and stop it spreading to the bones. “When you hear the dreaded ‘C’ word it takes you aback. It takes a lot to come to terms with. It’s a mental strain when you’ve been a healthy person your hole life. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks, just trying to get my head around it. “I know I’ve got a battle ahead. It’s going to be the battle of my life, but I’m determined and there’s no substitute for that. I’ve learned that with everything I’ve done. I’m doing this with my wife, we’re going to face it together. “Cancer is something I never thought would happen to me. You don’t think about it until it happens to you, but I’ve been looking into it. You don’t realise anything about it until you get it, then you realise how common it is. “All men from 50 onwards should be conscious of it. They should ask the doctor about it because there are tests they can do. “I just went in for a small blood test and they discovered I had a high PSA level. “If it’s normal that’s fine, but when it’s high, that’s when you can have a problem. “It’s the only thing they’ve got at this moment in time, but if you catch it at its early stages it can be treated. It’s when you let it get on it becomes a problem. “I went in for something else initially, then I went to see a urologist and I was told I had it. “The initial difficulty is coming to terms with it. You have to build yourself up. I know I want to fight it, I want a few more years. “I’ve been told there are some benefits to getting it later in life. It means the cancer can’t build up a resistance to the drugs they use to treat it. “At my age they can slow it down to give you a few years. “I need to have three months of drugs and radiotherapy. I have very good consultants at the Freeman Hospital, it’s the best place to be treated. You’re up there nearly every day, but I’m quite happy coming back to Newcastle, it’s where I’m from, it’s my home, so it’s always nice to be back here.”
