'If it helps one person then that's all I want' - Rhyl golfer puts 72 holes to thank Christie Hospital for rare cancer treatment

The condition can kill men within two years without diagnosis and despite the severe challenges to his body and mind, Roy believes he is one of the lucky ones.

“There is little to no information available about it,” said Roy, who lives in Rhyl. “Fellas don’t really talk about things like this as you get older, and it is something that gets joked about a lot when you are growing up.”

The 53-year-old truck driver had been diagnosed with lichen sclerosis for 14 years, which caused excruciating pain while urinating as the condition can cause scarring on the foreskin of the penis to split open. He used steroid ointment, but in 2016 this began to stop working.

“I was told could turn cancerous, but in the back of my mind thought I’d be alright,” he said. “In 2019, things started to get worse and it happened more often so I contacted Glan Clwyd Hospital in December and agreed with them to have circumcision.

The double rainbow over Rhyl Golf Club was “a moment for everyone”, said Roy.

“It was then that the doctors noticed the blemish, the size of a fingernail, and I informed the hospital. I was put down for an urgent biopsy but then lockdown struck.

“It was a red mark, like a scrape on the skin, but the skin was not raw. Not everybody looks so unless you take notice you wouldn’t see it.”

In April, Roy had an operation to have his urethra tract stretched, so that it was wide enough to urinate, but as lockdown put pressure on NHS services he had to wait several months until his biopsy could be carried out in July.

During that time he began carrying out his own research online and while being aware of the risks of self-diagnosis, he was certain the rash was a symptom of early stage penile cancer.

Other symptoms at later stages of the condition can include a growth or sore lasting at least four weeks, bleeding from the penis or under the foreskin, a discharge, and thickening of the foreskin.

A call from the hospital in September to discuss his biopsy results confirmed his fears. “As soon as ‘oncology’ was mentioned, I knew that I was right,” Roy said. “I was told I had early stage cancer and that I would have to go Christie Hospital in Manchester because, while the hospital has an oncology unit, they could not treat my cancer type because it is rare.”

In October, Roy was sent to Christie, one of the largest cancer treatment centres of its type in Europe, where was given the option of chemotherapy, laser treatment or to have the head of his penis grafted using skin from his leg. “I thought, ‘Sod that’, I’ll have the chemotherapy,” said Roy.

Roy Dickins (left) with friends Mark McAllister and Billy Henkinson.

He underwent cream-based chemotherapy for five days a week on a six-week course, during which a controlled infection along the urethra tract was treated by oral and cream antibiotics. It caused severe pain while urinating, but Roy was determined to remain in his truck driving job to locations across the UK throughout the process.

In May last year he also began playing golf at Rhyl Golf Club as an outlet, where he met old football teammates and began to find he could talk about his condition. They taught him his practice and “treated me like everyone else”, Roy said.

His chemotherapy treatment did not work and he was told would have to try another option. He decided to go ahead with laser treatment.

“Since then pretty much like there’s nothing wrong with me,” Roy said. “The hospital said I look great and sound great, and that they would see me again in three months.

"You can see mark where laser has been done but there is not much pain now. I wish I had opted for laser treatment at the very beginning.

Following the successful procedure with the Manchester hospital in March, Roy decided to stage a fundraiser on May 11 by completing a total of 72 holes within 15 hours, walking the entire route.

He was joined by friends Mark McAllister and Billy Hankinson throughout the day, while Paul Roberts and Paul Marshall joined for 18 hours. Club captain Nigel Evans also attended early morning first tee off.

Roy sad: “Golf was a way of exercising and I wanted to keep my strength up, fighting against what I had. There are people a lot worse off than me and I wasn’t going to let it beat me.”

During the challenge a double rainbow appeared over the course. “It was a moment for everybody, we had started at 5.30am and it had started to rain,” said Roy. “We were just getting on with it and were not hanging around as we knew how much we had to do. We could see the storm ahead with lightning forks, the skies were black.

“By the time we got to the 37th hole the rain stopped and started to clear up, everywhere but away from us,” said the husband and dad-of-two.

“On the 16th hole of the last round there was a rainbow; we’ve all seen rainbows but this was like it was out of a film.”

The fundraiser is ongoing but has so far raised more than £1,400 for Christie Hospital, which Roy said is a small show of thanks for the help he received there.

“I’m so grateful to Christie, Glan Clwyd and Clarence House, and to work who have been great with me,” said Roy. “Without them I would not have been able to deal with the process in the way that I did.

“If I can help one person by speaking about it then that is all I want. If men know it would be helpful to just check downstairs once in a while then someone could catch their cancer before it’s too late and they can get help.”