Cancer sufferer Alexander Norrie adds tribute to Sir Bobby
Feb 28 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
A MAN with terminal cancer who also lost his son to the disease last night added his tribute to the “inspirational” Sir Bobby Robson.
Alexander Norrie, 67, is suffering from lung cancer and his son, also called Alexander, died 12 years ago aged just 23 after finding a lump in his ear.
Mr Norrie has helped raise money for the region’s new cancer research centre in Newcastle, opened last week by Sir Bobby after his foundation raised £500,000 to kit it out, and Mr Norrie expressed his hope that a cure may not be far away.
He said: “The centre gives people hope. I just hope that one day that they will find a cure for cancer.
“It’s going to come too late for me but I just hope it will stop people having to go through what me and my son have gone through.
“The new centre has given us a marvellous opportunity to keep trying for that cure.”
More than £1.2m was raised in less than a year in Sir Bobby’s drive to fund the new research centre at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.
The centre will develop and test new cancer treatments and bring together all the clinical research staff who are working to improve cancer treatments into one purpose-built unit. Sir Bobby, who is fighting cancer for the fifth time, officially opened the new Cancer Trials Research Centre at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital last week, alongside England boss Fabio Capello.
Mr Norrie said witnessing Sir Bobby’s fight against the disease had helped him in his own battle.
“Bobby Robson is a marvellous man and an absolute legend,” he said.
“The way he has handled himself is marvellous and to see him going through what I’m going through, although he’s a bit older, he is an inspiration.
“To do all the charity work as he’s having treatment and everything, it’s just brilliant.
“When Alexander got cancer I decided I wanted to do something to help cancer research and now I’ve got it I’ve got another reason.
“It affects so many people but the new centre is a marvellous thing that will make a real difference.”
Mr Norrie, who lives in Closefield Grove, Monkseaton, North Tyneside, with his wife Cathlyn, 61, is a former chef, as was his son.
Around two years ago, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his bladder and it later spread to his kidneys before entering his lungs.
But the disease has not deterred him in his efforts to back Sir Bobby’s appeal, he and his family raising thousands of pounds for the foundation.
“Every day is a bonus for me,” he added. “I don’t worry about it.
“I just hope that one day the hard work that Bobby has put in and all the fundraising that goes on will pay off and we will have a cure.
“The new centre is going to be marvellous. When you go for treatment, it’s great to just have to go to one place .
“It will make a big difference to a lot of people – I think when you go up there it will be phenomenal.”
To donate to the foundation visit www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.co.uk or send a cheque to Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, PO Box 307, Heaton NE7 7QG.
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