By Louise French
Sean Kelly, 58, is well known in the Scarborough sports and business community, last year he represented England over the marathon distance for his age category, On Wednesday, June 25, he joined people from across the lung cancer community to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and deliver a clear and vital message to 10 Downing Street: Safeguard lung cancer screening and continue to save lives 鈥 now and for generations to come. Sean, who lives on Lady Edith鈥檚 Crescent, describes himself as 鈥榥ot your average lung cancer victim鈥 and while his prognosis is bleak, he is doing everything he can to remain positive in the hope that he will be ready, should the 鈥榤iracle鈥 cure materialise. He will be a familiar face to people in and around Scarborough, he grew up in the town and attended Graham School. He鈥檚 married to wife Julie and the couple had two children who are both in their 30s. Sean started running to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust after a close family member was diagnosed with Leukaemia, and to date, he has raised 拢50,000 for the trust. In November 2024, Sean began to notice that he was having breathing problems. A couple of weeks later, Sean and Julie went on holiday to Thailand. When they returned they went down to watch the events on the beach on Boxing Day, 鈥淎fterwards, we walked up to the castle, by the time we got there I couldn鈥檛 breathe,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 was referred to the asthma clinic, and my first clue there was something wrong came when I was sent for a CT scan. 鈥淚t was at Castle Hill in Hull that I received my final diagnosis – aggressive Stage 4 Small Cell Lung Cancer that has metastasized. 鈥淢y prognosis back in February was 10 to 12 months. 鈥淚t came as a shock. I’m only 5鈥6鈥 – super fit – I don鈥檛 fit the criteria of someone who has lung cancer.鈥 Initially Sean was treated with immunotherapy with chemotherapy and then radiotherapy. However, the cancer had spread to his brain – and Sean had two brain seizures. Sean said: 鈥淚 got through the first four chemo sessions, and have been told that by September I will have had as much chemo as they can give and that I should feel more comfortable. 鈥淓ventually you have to make a decision, do you want more life, or more chemo? 鈥淢y job for now is to take the tablets, take the treatment, so I鈥檓 in the best physical shape for the next challenge. 鈥淓very day a new thing comes along, so if the miracle cure comes out, I鈥檒l be ready for it. I鈥檝e still got a lot of living to do.鈥 鈥淲hen I got poorly, I was given a business card for the Roy Castle Foundation. 鈥淚 got in touch with them and told them about myself. 鈥淚鈥檝e done a couple of articles with them and a podcast. I鈥檝e built a nice relationship with the charity. 鈥淭hen, I received an email inviting me to Downing Street for the 35th Anniversary of the Roy Castle Foundation – you don鈥檛 expect an invitation to Downing Street.鈥 The charity is pressing for early screening of lung cancer. 鈥淓arly screening is really important – the pain relief patches I have cost 拢100 per day – chemo costs 拢1,000s each time – all just to keep me alive. 鈥淗ow much benefit would it be to everyone to have an earlier diagnosis?鈥 The visit to Downing Street gave Sean the opportunity to talk about these things: 鈥淚鈥檓 not your average looking Lung Cancer patient,鈥 he said: 鈥淚鈥檝e not smoked for 30 years – I eat healthily. 鈥淭he whole thing was very emotional – I knew I was a stooge, someone that could deliver a message: 鈥楬i, I鈥檓 Sean, I鈥檓 a new patient – there was no screening available for me.鈥 鈥淏ut there should have been. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased I got to use right words with the right people. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not often in life you are in a position to talk to the people who do make a difference.鈥