Wolverhampton band 'Stands Up To Cancer' to support young singer after gruelling treatment
When young singer Rob Mansfield underwent chemotherapy, his bandmates shaved their heads in a show of solidarity.
Now the 20-year-old and his band - Rosa Caelum - are celebrating the end of his cancer treatment by helping launch Stand Up To Cancer, the joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
“We’ve been supporting a lot of really good bands but doing my own headline gig was one of my bucket list items,” says Rob.
“Supporting Stand Up To Cancer means a lot to me right now because, without advances in research, I might not be here.”
Rob, from Penkridge, had just started the second year of his business studies degree at Birmingham University when he began experiencing pain.
“I was working in a supermarket pushing trolleys when I felt this intense pain, like a heavy weight pulling on me,” he says.
“I was given antibiotics but when that didn’t work, I went back to the GP who sent me for an ultrasound. I knew there was a lump so I’d prepared myself for cancer but it was stressful having to wait for the test results. When the news came, I went pretty blank, but my mum was really upset.”
Rob underwent surgery to remove the lump at New Cross Hospital in February and hoped that would be the end of it. But just weeks later he was told he would need chemotherapy to eradicate more of the cancer.
“I got the phone call while I was recording some songs at a friend’s house and I think he saw the look on my face,” recalls Rob. “You hear about chemotherapy, but you don’t think it’s going to be you. I didn’t think of it as a cure, I just knew I was going to be really ill and I was scared.
“I’d been working on getting bookings to support some really good bands so I decided I was going to try and carry on and do as many gigs as I could – with a back-up if I was ill.”
Just before chemotherapy began in April, Rob received yet another devastating phone call with the results of fresh scans.
“I was told I had a large lump at the back of my abdomen and a small lump in my lung,” says Rob. That was the worst possible news. I think the speed of it was the biggest shock.”
Doctors advised Rob to go ahead with chemotherapy as planned and it wasn’t long before Rob’s hair began falling out.
“Losing my hair was probably the thing I was most conscious about,” says Rob. “It started coming out when I was having a drink in a bar after a gig. I didn’t like it at all so when the band all said they were going to shave their hair off to support me I was really touched.”
Rob’s old schoolfriends also decided to join in and helped set up a fundraising page to raise money for men’s cancers.
“It’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me,” adds Rob. “One of the band members has a brother who’s a barber so we booked to do all of us in one go. We had some music on and a few beers and we had a good laugh. It helped me feel 100 per cent better about losing my hair.”
Results of a second CT scan in June showed that, while chemotherapy had reduced the size of the tumours, further surgery was needed. “One of my tumours had gone from 3.6cm to 1.5cm but that wasn’t enough so I was told I would have to have open surgery to remove them,” says Rob.
“I was cut from my chest to my waistline and spent a week in hospital, but the great news is that I don’t need any more treatment now. Getting that news is probably the happiest I’ve been in a long while. I’m still on edge whenever I feel a pain but, for now, I just want to take every opportunity I can.
"That’s why I want to support Stand Up to Cancer. Success stories like mine would not be possible without research into better and kinder treatments."
The band, which also includes guitarist Ben Marks-Baggott, bassist Travis O'Leary, guitarist Liam Tolley and drummer Jake Bishop (drummer), will be collecting money for the charity at a gig in Birmingham on October 28.
The campaign, which this year marks it 10th anniversary, has raised more than £93 million, funding clinical trials and projects involving cancer patients across the country.
Whether fundraisers take part in a fitness fortnight, get sponsored to stand up all day, dress head to toe in orange or organise their own bake sale, there are lots of ways to get involved in Stand Up To Cancer.
For those who want to take on cancer in style, there’s also a striking range of clothing and accessories for men and women available online.
"Every action big or small can help make a difference. So, I hope people will Stand Up To Cancer for me and everyone affected by this devastating disease," says Rob.
Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the West Midlands, Paula Young, says: “Thanks to our supporters, every day our researchers are working tirelessly to help more people like Rob survive. They’re finding ways to stop cancer from resisting treatment. They’re improving technology to detect it faster and boosting the immune system so that it’s better at destroying cancer cells.
“But there’s so much further to go. That’s why we’re asking everyone to Stand Up To Cancer this autumn and raise money that could help get new tests and treatments to those who need them most. If we all stand together, we can save lives.”
*To fundraise or donate visit su2c.org.uk
