A BIG-hearted donor from Redditch has come up with the £10,000 needed to make Rory the surgical Robot a reality.
Victor Johnson of Redditch Lions had ready about the drive by campaigners to bring state-of-the-art robotic prostate and bladder cancer surgery to the Alexandra Hospital in the Redditch Standard.
“My dad died 20 years ago of prostate cancer and I think that’s as good a reason as any to do this,” he said.
“He was a fairly successful businessman and left me one or two investments which is why I am able to help out. They need it, I have it.”
Fund raisers have been campaigning for years to get the £300,000 down payment necessary to to get the £1.6 million machine at the Alexandra Hospital.
And with the £300k raised – through bike rides, charity events and pledges – the board at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have given the go ahead for the purchase to be made.
Redditch businessman Ian Jukes, who heads up the Rory the Robot campaign said: “It’s fantastic news; brilliant that we have the £300k in the kitty.
“I know Victor, he is a really nice guy, a nice, generous man, unassuming and quiet and we cannot thank him enough.”
However he added that the fund raising still had to continue to raise the £1.6million needed to buy the robot outright.
“The support we’ve had from across the county has been tremendous and we’ve got another event planned for March at Worcester Bosch to keep the money rolling in.”
The Alexandra Hospital is regarded by the urology consultants who work there as a world beater in terms of treating prostate and bladder cancers.
A man dies of prostate cancer every hour and by 2030 it will be the most common cancer – in Worcestershire alone there are 2,500 men surviving prostate cancer with 500 new cases diagnosed every year.
Adel Makar, consultant urologist and lead cancer clinician at the Trust, said: “We launched the Rory the Robot appeal less than two years ago, so to be in this position already is remarkable and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our fundraisers and the generosity of our local community.
“The introduction of this state of the art robotic surgery equipment will mean we can deliver life-changing results for prostate cancer patients in Worcestershire.”
You can still support the Rory the Robot appeal online at http://bit.ly/2k7HMPf by texting RORY97 + £amount to 70070. Find out more at http://bit.ly/1fMnltj.
For more information visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP_c7uEGXo
