After eight years of battling cancer, Dave Stewart said he wants to celebrate all that he has come through by taking part in Brave this year.
Mr Stewart first heard of Friends of Anchor when he watched his close friend take part in Brave three years ago.
After watching the guys on the catwalk, he said: “I was very inspired by the guys and just how they were jumping about.
“It was just the energy they had considering what they’d been going through and I thought that looks really good.”
Later he applied and although he did not get in at first, when he got the call to be a part of Brave on holiday, it was an automatic yes.
Diagnosed eight years ago
Mr Stewart was working in Libya in 2014, when he noticed he was having a few issues with his bladder. At first he put it down to the extreme desert heat but after telling a medic about it, he was told to get checked out when he arrived home.
As soon as he got back to Scotland, Mr Stewart booked an appointment with his GP. After undergoing a few tests, his doctor called back the next day to tell him to go into hospital. He was told he had prostate cancer.
From there, he said: “I started the medication straight away which sort of slows the cancer down a little bit. Then three months later I went through the radiotherapy.
“I think I had about 40 sessions of it, every second day type thing, it was quite intense.”
Although the news was a bit of a shock, Mr Stewart said he accepted it and his family were so supportive. However, it was the mental aspect that he found most difficult.
The Aberdeen resident said: “There were so many people who got prostate cancer so I thought it’s bound to hit me at some point in time so I just took it in my stride.
“I think the medication played a big part in the mental aspect. The radiotherapy you don’t feel anything but the medication I’ve been on for eight years now.”
Mentoring others for as long as he can
For two years, the 67-year-old took medication and thought he was cleared of cancer in 2017. But one morning he woke up and his eye was blurred.
It was soon discovered it was not a stye as he thought – he had suffered a mild stroke.
Mr Stewart lost most of the vision in his eye and in one of his regular checks in 2020, his PSA levels were found to have increased.
It was then the depression got worse: “They put me on quite a strong medication which resulted in me getting steroids to counteract it, but I would get so depressed.
“The slightest thing that anybody said to me I would break down into tears.”
The doctors later took him off the medication and are still reviewing different options.
Mr Stewart said: “(The cancer) is still ongoing until I get the all clear and I don’t know if I’ll ever get that.”
Throughout treatment, Mr Stewart said he always tried to speak about it: “I just told everybody and also I wanted all my male friends to get checked because if it can happen to me, it can happen to them.
“I was lucky cause I got it caught early. But one other friend, he had to get surgery because a doctor hadn’t checked him properly.
“I like to be a mentor for friends who are going through the same as me, including the ones who have had surgery for cancer. I will continue to do this for as long as I can.”
Taking part in Brave, Mr Stewart said the group are opening up a lot more about their experience now.
He added: “The message is coming through that we’re all different and have or had different kinds of cancer.”
Living for the grandkids
He said it has been a hard eight years and he does not know if it will ever end but what keeps him going now is his four “beautiful grandkids”.
Mr Stewart said: “I wouldn’t want my grandkids to grow up without their grandfather and that’s what keeps me going now. Because I lost my grandfather when I was quite young.
“I don’t want them to be brought up without their grandad.”
Brave is taking place on May 5 and 6 at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen where Mr Stewart’s family have booked a full table for both nights.
So far he has managed to raise over £2,500 before he takes to the catwalk next month.
Speaking about the night, Mr Stewart said: “I’m still nervous I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”
“It’s celebrating the last eight years and that I’m hopefully going to get clear one day.
“I’m also raising money for such a good charity because they do so much for people who are a lot more ill than me. It’s a chance to give money back to them.”
