Man with rare cancer takes on kids' bike challenge

A man who lost his parents to cancer and has been diagnosed with a rare form of the disease himself has ridden 27 miles (43km) on a toddler bike for charity.

Former tree surgeon Adam Alderson had organs including his stomach and pancreas, as well as a 10kg (1.5st) growth, removed after being diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei.

While the operation in 2015 was deemed a success, Mr Alderson has now been told the stomach cancer has returned.

To raise money for Cancer Research UK, the 45-year-old decided to cycle from his home in Leyburn to Northallerton - on a children's bike he found in a skip.

Mr Alderson was diagnosed in 2012 while he was living in Australia and was told the cancer had already been growing for around 12 years.

He told the BBC: "I'd had stomach problems for quite some time before that and my first doctor's appointment, he sent me for a scan and he picked up on it straight away.

"On Christmas Eve [that year] I was diagnosed with a rare form of abdominal cancer."

Mr Alderson and his partner Laura moved back to the UK for treatment but were told by doctors that the cancer had progressed too far.

"It was everywhere, encasing my stomach and my bowels," he said.

"[They] essentially sent me home on palliative care with a prognosis of two years."

After looking into alternative treatment options, Mr Alderson eventually learned of a pioneering surgery carried out on England rugby league player Steve Prescott.

Mr Prescott died from complications three weeks later but the same surgery was successful for Mr Alderson and he had eight abdominal organs replaced.

Intent on living life to the full, Mr Alderson and his wife launched a series of fundraising challenges, which started with driving a "battered 4x4" 22,000 miles (35,400 km) across the world.

When he came across a "princess" bike on top of a local skip, he said he thought it would make "another crazy challenge" to try to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

On Saturday, Mr Alderson and his friend set off on the 27-mile journey from Leyburn to Northallerton which took them nearly three hours to complete.

To date, they have raised more than £3,700.

Earlier this year, he was told his cancer had returned and that it was likely he would have to undergo the same multi-organ transplant again.

Despite the news, Mr Alderson said he was already planning other fundraising activities in the future.

"I'm pretty determined on a personal level to not let this beat me," he said.

"There is definitely a plan to do it next year and try and encourage a few more middle-aged men like me to ride silly little bikes for charity."

According to Cancer Research UK, pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a very rare type of cancer which typically begins in the appendix.

More rarely, it can start in other parts of the bowel, the ovaries or the bladder.

Some people will not experience any symptoms, which makes a diagnosis difficult.

Symptoms can include:

• abdominal or pelvic pain
• not being able to become pregnant
• abdominal swelling and bloating
• changes in bowel habits
• hernia (a bulge in the tummy wall or groin)
• loss of appetite
• feeling of fullness

The main treatments for PMP are surgery and chemotherapy.

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