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North-eat war veteran takes charity plunge in father’s memory

Brett Townsley
Brett Townsley

A north-east war veteran is taking the plunge for charity, in memory of his late father.

For a year, Brett Townsley – from Bucksburn, Aberdeen – has been raising funds for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, after the disease claimed the life of his father, Ralph, last April.

The 39-year-old – who served in the armed forces for 10 years, including tours of Afghanistan – has so far raised more than £8,700 for the charity, through challenges such as the gruelling Spartan Run, and is well on the way to smashing the £10,000 target he had set himself for this year.

The foundation offers support to lung cancer sufferers and also funds research into the deadly disease.

Now the former Hazlehead Academy pupil has set his sights on September’s Great Scottish Swim, Europe’s biggest open water event of its kind, in Loch Lomond.

And the Wood Group health and safety adviser says the spirit his 72-year-old father, affectionately known as Raffie, showed fighting the disease, has spurred him on.

He said: “I was inspired by his bottle, he was one of those people who got up every day, regardless.

“He went through a massive operation and basically had a large part of one of his lungs removed.

“I’ve seen courage in the field but to get up every day and fight the disease is completely different.”

It was his experiences with his father that revealed the true extent of the difficulties faced by lung cancer sufferers.

Mr Townsley continued: “The foundation is the only lung cancer-specific charity in the UK.

“Lung cancer is one of the major killers in the country, but it carries a stigma to it because people associate it with smokers, even though it can affect anyone.

“The foundation is probably one of the charities that could do with more funding – there was really no other choice for me.”

Mr Townsley has enlisted his friends Chris Farman and Andrew Walters to enter the swim, and admits this could be his greatest challenge yet.

“I’m not a fantastic swimmer,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons I decided to sign up. I wanted to do something different that I hadn’t done before.

“The plan is to continue fundraising, I’d set a target for the year but it’s been such a success that I’m going to keep going.

“There’s still people who have said they want to do something and get involved.”

And Mr Townsley’s fundraising efforts have been so successful that he has reached the final of the Stars of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Awards.

The ceremony takes place in Liverpool at the end of this month.