A BOOK written by a Hook man who survived a rare form of cancer on his face has been released.

John Wilkinson was last week at a London launch of his new book, Face Cancer, which tells the story of his journey from diagnosis through to the present day, with proceeds going to charity.

In 2017, John’s life changed when an aggressive, large and very rare cancerous tumour took residence in his face, and his prospects looked bleak.

After more than 30 hours of surgery over several operations with almost 400 stitches, John had a new face, voice and lifestyle.

It was during the recovery from his first operation that he had the idea to write a book.

John said: “While I was waking up and it was quite traumatic, I had the idea to try and help others facing cancer.

“I was also looking to raise awareness of both neck and face cancer, as they are quite rare, not many people have heard of them.”

The book tells the story of diagnosis, surgery, recovery, remission and recurrence, in his own words.

As well as that, there are also chapters written by members of John’s family, telling the story from the perspective of those caring for someone with cancer.

John added: “Writing the book helped me to focus on something other than my illness, and hopefully, people will be able to take something away from this.”

“Cancer affects so many people, whether directly or indirectly, and hopefully this can help.”

The launch of the book took place on Friday, 3 May at Canary Wharf in London, hosted by John’s employer HSBC, with more local events planned soon.

It was attended by 150 people including Phil Tufnell, who wrote one of the forewords to the book, as well as rugby legend Matt Dawson and Dr Aisha Miah, consultant clinical oncologist at Royal Marsden Hospital.

All net proceeds from the book will be shared between Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

For more information about the book and for buying options, go to

facecancer.co.uk

.