March for Men: Leeds widow to walk two marathons for Prostate Cancer UK to continue husband's fundraising legacy

Given just five to 10 years to live, the Leeds dad-of-two threw himself into fundraising for Prostate Cancer UK, determined to help find a cure for the most common cancer in men.

Lloyd sadly died in September 2020 aged 49, and now his widow Tina will continue his legacy by walking two marathons with TV pundit Jeff Stelling next week.

Jeff is dedicating his fourth March For Men to his "great friends" Lloyd and former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence, who also died from prostate cancer last year.

Tina said she feels "overwhelmed and privileged" that the charity will pay tribute to her husband by visiting two football clubs that were very close to his heart.

She will join Jeff for the first two stages of the march - from Newcastle United to the home of her husband’s beloved Sunderland AFC on Bank Holiday Monday, and from Harrogate Town to Leeds United on Tuesday.

The Yorkshire leg will make a poignant stop at Kirk Deighton Rangers AFC, in Wetherby, the club where Lloyd played for more than 30 years.

Tina, of South Milford, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Lloyd was a big character, he could talk to anybody. He’d walk into a room and everybody knew him within about 15 minutes.

“I think that’s what Jeff saw when they met. He’d only been diagnosed about six weeks before, so it was still very raw to us.

"And yet, he was still Lloyd and that always shone through, right through his illness. I’m so proud of him and the way that he handled everything.”

Tina added that Lloyd's death has left a "big empty space" in the home she shares with their daughters, Gracie, 12, and eight-year-old Lola.

She urged men to check their risk of the disease and see their GP if they have any concerns.

"Lloyd was just desperate to not let anybody else be in the situation that we were in," Tina, 49, added.

"He didn’t want anybody else who was that young, with a young family, to be told that would happen to them. I feel like I’ve got to carry on the work that he did, using his name to keep raising that awareness.”

Lloyd was one of hundreds of football fans who joined Jeff to march from Hartlepool to Wembley in 2016, just six weeks after receiving his diagnosis, and he walked again in 2017 and 2019.

Walking two marathons is a tough ask for Tina, who has just recovered from coronavirus, but she's determined to get through it with her family and friends.

Tina said: “If Lloyd could do all the walks and charity work that he did, whilst having a terminal diagnosis, then I’m sure as hell that I can do it."

Unlike other cancers, early prostate cancer often has no symptoms.

Prostate Cancer UK is urging men to use its 30-second risk checker – to help people understand their risk of the disease. Those most at risk are men over 50, black men over 45, and men with a family history of prostate cancer.

Tina added: “If anybody feels they have symptoms or they fit into the 'at risk' category, then they should contact their GP. It’s really important not to assume things.”

You can sponsor Tina's fundraiser here, with all money raised funding research into life-saving treatments for prostate cancer.

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