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The Bob Willis Fund has been set up to raise money for prostate cancer research and awareness.
Prostate cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer in the UK, killing 11,000 men a year.
Yet, there is no national screening programme. The current prostate-antigen (PSA) test is unreliable: it doesn’t work for everyone, and it didn’t work for Bob.
We need better and quicker ways to detect prostate cancer and this is the core purpose of The Bob Willis Fund, with the majority of the money raised going to specific, prostate cancer diagnosis projects.
Your donation could help save a life like Bob’s.
More about the Bob Willis Fund
Bob Willis, the former England Cricket Captain, the hero of Headingley 1981 and much loved Sky Sports Broadcaster, was a healthy 66-year-old when he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in April 2016.
Bob had regular PSA tests but his urine flow had started to weaken and a urinary tract infection took him to the doctor. This time the PSA was very slightly raised, so Bob was sent to see a urologist who assured him there was nothing to worry about. Six weeks later Bob returned and it was recommended he had an MRI scan and a biopsy. The results were devastating. It was advanced Prostate Cancer that had spread into his bones. Even then we were told it wasn’t immediately life-threatening but it would be in 3-5 years without treatment. Bob underwent every treatment thrown at him without complaint. He died 3 years and 8 months later in December 2019, aged 70.
Bob’s story proves there is still so much research needed. Prostate Cancer is the Number 1 diagnosed cancer in the UK. It kills 11000 men a year. ONE MAN EVERY 45 MINUTES. And yet there is still no national screening programme and the current PSA test, while a good indicator of the risk of Prostate Cancer for most men, didn’t work for Bob.
The Money Raised to date
Last year The Bob Willis Fund raised over £700,000, which has helped support some ground- breaking research into a better diagnosis of prostate cancer. Funding has gone to Prostate Cancer UK, The Institute of Cancer Research and The University of East Anglia, which is exploring blood tests, urine tests and genetic mapping to give us more tools to detect the disease earlier. These tools will help in our aim to have a national screening programme for prostate cancer in the next 3-5 years. Something that may have saved Bob’s life if it was in place.