Grateful Knaresborough dad says 'my son is living proof that Yorkshire Cancer Research saves lives'

Jonathan King said he would be forever grateful to Yorkshire Cancer Research and explained what it meant to him to give something back.

Mr King said: “My experience with my son, who has been able to grow up, has changed my outlook on life and how fragile it is.

"I am much more appreciative of the little things now and I try to do as much as I can to make a difference.”

It was in 1992 that Jonathan’s son James was diagnosed aged six months with a rare cancer on his leg and buttock.

Fortunately, the experimental treatment was a success, and James has been in remission since he was a toddler.

In 2013, Jonathan and his three friends decided to give back to cancer research by racing through Europe in a beaten-up Volvo decorated as a bamboo beach bar, raising more than £6,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

As Yorkshire Cancer Research marks its 100th anniversary in 2025, the charity is celebrating supporters across the region, including Jonathan, for helping bring a century of breakthroughs, progress and life-saving discoveries to Yorkshire, and beyond.

Jonathan said: “It was such a shock when the doctors found a large tumour in his pelvis.

"We were told he had an extremely rare cancer and there had only been six cases in the last ten years.

"There are no words to describe the feeling of being told your baby boy will most likely not survive past the next two weeks.

Young James was put on a year-long course of chemotherapy in the hope that the tumour could be shrunk enough to permit surgery.

A gruelling regime of two weeks in hospital followed by a week at home lasted for over a year before the operation.

“It was an extremely challenging time for our family, spending endless nights in the chair next to James’ hospital bed.

"After a year and a half, the tumour had shrunk to a point where surgery was finally possible.”

The surgery was a success but, to help the doctors better understand the side effects of his cancer treatment, the then little boy continued to go to hospital every year for tests until he was 21.

Looking back now, the grown-up James said: “A lot of sick children don’t have the happy ending like I did.

"When I was in school, I didn’t really understand why we had to go back every year.

"By contributing to the understanding of cancer treatment, I hope I played a small part in passing on the gift of cancer research to someone else.”

By 2013, the year of the Ramshackle Rally, James was in his final year at Northumbria University.

The Ramshackle Rally, which saw his dad and three friends race through eight countries in a beaten-up old Volvo called ‘Beach Boys’, was a way for Jonathan to say thank you for his son’s life.

Jonathan said: “Seeing James get so sick as a baby made me realise just how important cancer research is.

"My son is living proof that cancer research saves lives.”

More information: https://www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/100