A HAMPSHIRE father has beaten cancer to reach his goal to run the Race For Life in Basingstoke with his son.

When Terry Daly watched his son Callum cross the finish line at Basingstoke’s Race for Life last year, Terry made himself a promise that in 2023 he would complete the 5k alongside him.

At the time, Terry, 61, from Aldershot, was recovering from major surgery to remove a tumour. He had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and was about to start chemotherapy.

Now fit and well and acutely aware of how vital it is to raise money for life-saving research, Terry remains true to his word and will take part in the event with Callum at Basingstoke’s War Memorial Park on May 28.

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Terry said: “My doctor said that if I had been diagnosed five years ago, I wouldn’t have had the treatment I’ve had, so I know how important the funding is. This time last year, I set myself a goal and now I’ve reached it."

Terry had been suffering from difficulty swallowing and digesting food for about six months before his diagnosis in October last year, and he attributed the symptoms to indigestion. But when his doctor sent him for more tests in October 2021, he was told he had developed cancer of the oesophagus, the tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach.

Terry said: “It was a shock. I knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t think it would be that, so it was a real shock. But I spoke to my consultant and he explained everything they would be offered to me and I told myself I would beat it.

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“I had chemo to try to shrink the tumour but it only reduced in size by a small amount. Then in April last year, I had an operation to take the tumour out and to stretch my stomach up to the remaining oesophagus.

“I’d been recovering well but I suddenly took a turn for the worst about a week after my operation and became critically ill. I had to be put into an induced coma while surgeons repeated the repair to my oesophagus. I was in and out of surgery for several days and spent two weeks in intensive care.

“Eventually I recovered from the surgery and then went on to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy last summer before being told the brilliant news that there was no evidence of any cancer in my body."