Colleague’s illness spurs on fundraisers

Charity panto players have a special reason to make their show a success when they take to the stage later this month.

The Blue Light Theatre Company, which includes members of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, holds a popular annual panto in Acomb  each January.

The show regularly supports York Against Cancer, but last year Darran Buckley, one of the organisers’ colleagues, went through tough treatments after finding two tumours in his throat.

His experience made the players determined to raise as much money as possible, particularly after he was helped by us.

Emergency Ambulance Technician Darran, 55, of Hambleton, near Selby, went to our luxury respite home in Filey with partner Katie Shaylor after chemotherapy and extensive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

He said the free short break had meant a great deal to him but also to Katie. “I had so many painkillers that I often didn’t know just what was happening, but Katie saw it all and I think sometimes your family suffer more than you do yourself,” he said.

Darran’s manager Craig Barley was very moved when he heard what he had been through. “It’s an amazing story,” he said. “When Darran talks about it he makes it sound so matter of fact but he must have gone through some dark times. I think he’s an inspiration.”

Craig’s wife Perri-Ann, who as usual has written this year’s panto, Wonderland, is another ambulance worker and was just as touched to hear about Darran.

“You do these fundraisers and you don’t really see what happens with the money,” she said. “It’s a lot of work but everybody enjoys it, then you do the cheque presentation but when you actually hear what happens to the money it really brings it all home to you.”

Final preparations are now well advanced for Wonderland, which will be performed at Acomb Working Men's Club, in Front Street, York, on January 18, 23, 24 and 25 at 7.30pm plus a January 19 matinee at 1pm. Tickets are priced £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and £5 for children. 

The show features panto favourites such as Alice, The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter, The Cheshire Cat, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

The plot tells what happens when plans for a Wonderland’s Got Talent! event are threatened by the King and Queen of Hearts.

Wonderland tickets are on sale on 07933 329654 or at bluelight-theatre.co.uk; you do not have to be an Acomb WMC member to attend. All profits split equally between York Against Cancer and Motor Neurone Disease Association (York).

Darran’s story

It was after dropping off a patient at York Hospital that Darran first noticed a lump in his neck.

“I’d had a persistent sore throat,” he said, “but I thought nothing of it. I felt the side of my neck and noticed what I thought was a swollen gland.

“I went to the doctor and after tests showed it wasn’t an infection, they sent me off on an urgent referral. The hospital tests showed it was a secondary tumour and they weren’t sure where the primary was.

“A scan found I had head and neck cancer. The primary was just under my chin. It was a shock but at the back of my mind I knew that something wasn’t right.

“It was more of a shock for my other half. She had a doctor’s appointment in London that day so she couldn’t come with me. I had to tell her on the phone.”

Darran faced eight sessions of chemotherapy at the same time as 35 bouts of radiotherapy, but had to stop the chemotherapy after suffering a severe reaction. During his radiotherapy he suffered mouth ulcers, lost his sense of taste, his appetite and most of his salivary glands.

He shed two stone and at one point was admitted to hospital with malnutrition, being fed through the nose for two months.

“My life was taken away from me,” said Darran. “I had to do exactly what I was told - but there’s nothing you can do, you just have to get on with it. My dad had bowel, liver and lung cancer and he had a great attitude, such a sense of humour with it and I think I have a similar outlook.

“I can’t remember that much of it because of all the drugs I was on – it was worse for Katie, she saw it all and she struggled to cope with all I had to go through.”

The couple were delighted when told that they could take advantage of York Against Cancer’s free respite break scheme, and visited Filey at the end of Darran’s treatment.

“It was unbelievable, a home from home,” he said. “It’s one of the nicest things that could be offered to you after you’ve had your treatment, not just for you but for your family – living your life normally. To know that you have got that break away that is totally free of charge – it’s such a gift.”

Darran is now back at work after 310 days of treatment, and continues to be monitored.  “I’m never going to be 100 per cent and sometimes the side effects get you down, but I am still here and I am so thankful for that.

“The ambulance service has been fantastic – all my colleagues rallied round. I’m so glad to be back at work.”