After major surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, George Mair struggled to walk 100 yards.
But now he is excited to step out onto the Brave catwalk to show off his “dad dancing” onstage at the Beach Ballroom – something he never thought he would do.
The dad from Lossiemouth was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2021 after his brother had received the same diagnosis a couple of years before.
His wife Ray, who is a retired district nurse, encouraged him to get tested and the doctors found an anomaly in the results – but reassured the couple that they had caught it very early on.
About three months later, Mr Mair was left feeling unwell after eating and ended up being taken to hospital after collapsing.
“I think they call it the silent cancer because it can creep up on you,” the 68-year-old explained.
“For me, I never knew, I never had any symptoms. Until one evening my son made chilli for tea when he was home, and I got up from the table and felt a little bit ill.
“I collapsed in the bathroom and my wife phoned an ambulance.”
Doctors at first thought it was an ulcer but, after many scans and an endoscopy, they discovered a tumour. After further investigation, he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
Radical surgery
This came as a “huge shock” to the dad of two, who had always been fit and healthy after spending over 30 years working in Shell.
He retired from oil and gas when his family moved from Aberdeen to Lossie, and worked as a janitor in both Andersons and Pilmuir primary schools in Forres.
Chemotherapy began in September and the tumour was successfully removed in December.
Mr Mair said the surgery was “pretty radical”, and surgeons also had to remove part of his stomach and part of his oesophagus. It took seven hours in theatre and two different teams of surgeons.
He spent three days in intensive care, and another five in the high-dependency unit, with surgeons estimating he would be in the hospital for at least four to six weeks.
However, Mr Mair was determined to get home in time for Christmas and just 11 days after his major operation he surprised everyone by returning home on Christmas Eve.
Team Mair rallied round
The surgery left him struggling to walk and he had to be fed through a tube connected to his stomach.
He also lost his voice, his hair and his nails after the four “unpleasant and hard-going” rounds of chemo.
But Team Mair rallied around and his wife and their two sons, Gavin and Findlay, helped with his recovery.
He said: “I’m married to a district nurse, and she took it all in her stride and went straight into nurse mode.
“I got really excellent care at home, and the two boys helped out as well because they were both at home at the time. It was a family effort – Team Mair.”
He was also sent about 200 handmade cards from all the classes in the schools he worked in, which he describes as “amazing” and still leaves him with a lump in his throat.
Now, he has recovered “very well” and gets regular scans and blood checks.
“I think I was lucky actually,” he said. “I was lucky it was caught in time. It’s a lot to go through, but I’m still here and it’s amazing how well they looked after you at the Anchor Unit in ARI.
“I’m fitter and healthier, I’ve got all my hair back, and I’ve got all my sparkle back – and I’m looking forward to doing Brave.
“Something I never thought I would do is get up and do a bit of dad dancing in the Beach Ballroom, but I’m delighted to do it.”
‘They’re a real crutch’
Although he had his chemo treatment in Elgin, Mr Mair had to get the lines put in and taken out in Aberdeen.
He credits Friends of Anchor as his “point of call” throughout treatment and said their friendly and welcoming faces would help when he was visiting the Anchor unit.
Mr Mair explained: “It’s a scary time when you’re starting out on that journey, and when you meet somebody friendly, a human face, it just settles everything.
“It’s such a lovely thing that they do, they were there and helped me through both my chemo sessions.”
He added: “They helped me out with my feeding tube too – after the operation I had a tube in my tummy and that’s how I got fed for months after my operation because I couldn’t eat properly.
“I had problems with the pump, problems with the supply at times, and syringes, and they were always at the end of the phone – Friends of Anchor were the point of call.
“They were always there, they’re a real crutch for anybody going through it. You can’t thank them enough really.”
George Mair has set up his own JustGiving page with a goal of £1,000 to raise funds for the Anchored Together appeal by taking part in Brave. Donations can be made here.
Brave will take place at the Beach Ballroom on May 4 and 5. Tickets for the all-men fashion show are available on the Friends of Anchor’s website.
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