Pals rally to a good cause

When James King was six months old his parents were told he had cancer and had two months to live.

“I came back from work one day and James was lying on the floor but his right leg was limp,” explains James’s dad, Jonathan. “He’d just had his injections and we thought it might have something to do with that.”

The family’s GP told them to take James to hospital where they found that he had a large tumour at the top his leg and buttock.

“They were very blunt and straightforward and said it was cancer.”

However, James’s cancer was extremely rare – there had only been six cases in the previous 10 years – and so doctors were unsure what recipe of drugs should form the chemotherapy.

They were in contact with a consultant from America and one from Europe to collate as much information as possible.

“As parents you can’t take it all in and when we were both sat down in a quiet room to 
be told by the consultants 
that your little baby has two weeks to live we both fell apart. You don’t hear much after that; we were devastated. All you want to do is swap places with him.

“They told us that the cancer had spread to over 60 per cent of his pelvic area and they were going to try a special chemo in the hope it would first stop the growth and then start reducing it in size.”

For the next year James was treated with a mixture 
of chemotherapy at the Newcastle RVI. The family, who now live near Knaresbrough, were living in Darlington at the time. He would spend a week at home and then two weeks in hospital having the chemo.

“James vomited all the time for over a year of treatment. It was very hard work as well as being very emotional. I don’t know how you cope – something just seems to give you an inner strength

“We have a daughter, Samantha, and she was only two at the time. We tried to include her in everything so that she didn’t feel left out, as it would have been easy to concentrate on James.”

Jonathan was struck by the number of machines in the Victorian ward which had plaques on showing they had been donated.

“It made me realise how much the hospital relied on charity.”

Eventually James’s tumour shrank enough for the doctors to be able to operate. They managed to remove 98 per cent of it.

“He was in surgery for quite a few hours and Debbie, my wife, and I, walked around the park hoping he would be okay. When they eventually brought him back to the ward he was sitting up, smiling.”

James is now a fit and healthy 21-year-old in his final year at Newcastle University, studying to be a building surveyor.

He still has two per cent of the tumour in his body which could start to grow at any time. He undergoes regular check-ups, not only to monitor the tumour but to see whether the experimental drugs he was on have any long term side effects.

Now Jonathan and three friends are hoping to raise £5,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

“I know first-hand the benefits of cancer research and with more funding they can do more and hopefully the time will come when no one’s little baby (no matter how old) is taken from them,” says Jonathan.

They came up with the idea of doing the Ramshackle Rally which entails driving a car which cost not more than £200 from Calais to Munich. The only problem is it involves driving over the Alps on some of the toughest and most exciting roads in Europe.

“A group of us were really wanting to do something along the lines of one of the challenges in Top Gear,” explains Jonathan.

“We were going to organise it ourselves but then we heard about the Ramshackle Rally, which sounded perfect. We also wanted to do it for charity and I was really touched when they all agreed to do it for Yorkshire Cancer Research.”

The four have customised an old Volvo, turning it into Bamboo Beach Bar, complete with cocktail bar and glasses.

“Not only are we planning to drive the route to Munich, we are also planning to drive back – we also have to get from Knaresborough to Calais which adds a few miles.”

Ramshackle Rally route

The Ramshackle Rally is an annual seven-day fancy dress car rally from Calais to Munich. Competitors can spend no more than £200 on their car which has to be given a ‘make over’.

Jonathan King will be joined by Graham 
Wilson, Adrian Paul and Richard Bond and their car is called NNC Bamboo Beach Bar.

The route is Knaresborough to Eversholt, Beds. Then from the start in Calais to Annecy, France – Bormio, Italy – Innsbruck, Austria – Ljubljana, Slovenia and finish in Munich, Germany. To sponsor the team visit www.justgiving.com/Ramshackle-Rally-NNC.