Leeds private investigator walks 310km in August for head and neck cancer charity

Mark Hodgson - a director of Tremark Associates, a Leeds firm whose investigators and process servers trace people, assets and evidence for solicitors, insolvency practitioners and insurers - has already passed his £10,000 target.

He will have covered 310 kilometres by the end of the month and is now working towards a £15,000 stretch target. 

Mark was diagnosed in the summer of 2023 with T4 N1 M0 cancer affecting his throat, tongue and a nearby lymph node, and went through an intensive course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

He was treated by Dr Mehmet Sen, who has since retired from the NHS and now serves as a trustee of Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK. 

"I know first hand how much specialist care, support and awareness matter, and how frightening and isolating this diagnosis can be.

"Dr Sen's expertise and support played a huge part in getting me through treatment, and he is now giving his time to Oracle. Walking 10 kilometres a day for a month felt like the least I could do." 

Julie Child, Executive Director of Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK, said:  "Mark's achievement is truly extraordinary, walking 310 kilometres in a month, three years on from stage 4 cancer treatment.

"What makes it even more special is his connection to Dr Sen, his former oncologist and now one of our trustees.

"We're so grateful to Mark, and everyone who walked with him, for raising vital funds and awareness of a disease that remains far too under-recognised."

Head and neck cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men in the UK. More than 14,000 people are diagnosed each year and case numbers are expected to rise to around 16,300 a year in the UK by 2040, Cancer Research UK reports. It says only 45 per cent of people survive head and neck cancers for 10 or more years, 2018.

Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK is the leading UK charity dedicated to head and neck cancer.

It supports patients and carers through webinars, peer support and bereavement services; and campaigns for earlier diagnosis and better HPV vaccination uptake.

Its awareness work centres on a two minute #HeadNeckCheck, looking for hoarseness, earache, lumps, pain, ulcers and difficulty swallowing. Anything unusual that has not cleared up after three weeks should be checked by a GP or dentist. 

Colleagues from Tremark, along with friends and family, have joined Hodgson on the walks through the month, with routes running through Leeds, Wetherby, Harewood, Wensleydale, Hebden Bridge and London.

And 15 businesses have sponsored the campaign. Anyone who would like to join one of the remaining walks can find the routes at tremark.co.uk/step-up-for-oracle, and donations can be made at justgiving.com/page/tremark-step-up-for-oracle.