THE wife of a cancer patient who is taking on a gruelling 245-mile charity walk has spoken of how it has affected the family from her perspective.

Hazel Wells, whose husband Martyn is taking on the Cape Wrath Trail, which is one of Britain’s most challenging walks, described the impact of his diagnosis on her.

She said: “My greatest fear when hearing my husband had stage-four cancer was that he was going to die and the thought of Martyn leaving me behind was unbearable.

“I felt the tears, the rage, bewilderment, and worry totally absorbed me.

“I was bombarded with medical facts and jargon; feeling like each new fact delivered was like a slap in the face, so many blows that just kept coming.”

Martyn, 50, from St Peter's, was diagnosed with melanoma in March 2017, which started with a primary tumour, a small mole on his shoulder, and soon found him battling with the metastatic spread of the cancer over his upper body, undergoing six rounds of surgery in less than 12 months.

By March 2018, the cancer had spread to his stomach and Martyn was faced with more surgery and now lives without a stomach and is a stage IV melanoma patient.

Hazel, 51 spoke about the emotional strain the diagnosis put on both of them, saying: “I just couldn’t imagine what Martyn was feeling and going through, but I wasn’t going to let him see how much I was struggling with it all, when all I wanted to do was cry and hide and cry some more.

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“I felt I couldn’t cry in front of him and get him down, as we were both trying to accept this diagnosis, and that this illness was really happening to both of us and that we would share many of the same emotions and concerns.”

Five months after having his stomach removed, Martyn decided to walk the Severn Way, a staggering 228 miles to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Following the River Severn from its source in the Cambrian Mountains to the sea at Bristol in just 10 days, he raised £46,000 for Macmillan.

In February this year, Martyn had an adverse reaction to a course of immunotherapy he was undergoing to restrain his melanoma, which left him fighting for his life.

Severe pneumonia became sepsis, which lead to 15 nights spent on a ventilator in the QE’s intensive care unit, followed by a further 15 nights spent horizontal in bed, on oxygen.

A month later, he found himself having to learn to walk again because of atrophy in his leg muscles.

Hazel said: “I couldn’t believe we were here, and I still couldn’t get my head around the seriousness of what had happened, until the consultant saw us both one morning and said he was glad to see Martyn as they didn’t think he was going to make it.

“Martyn nearly died in front of my eyes.

“When I left the hospital that day, I cried all the way home in the car, I went straight to be with my best friend who just hugged me.

“She saw the pain reflected in my face and I melted into her arms like a defenceless child and sobbed until I could sob no more.

“I call Martyn my warrior because he is an incredibly strong person in mind and body.

“Months go by and I can see before my eyes what the cancer did to his masculinity, exposing a vulnerability and weakness I had never seen before.

“I have seen Martyn go from a 6ft 4 19 stone man drop down to 12 stone and having to overcome the mental impact of this.

“The pain and hell he has gone through was horrible and I felt so helpless.

“The cocktail of drugs and immunotherapy side effects were gut wrenching to experience.”

Four months after taking his first steps along the corridor of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Martyn is preparing to take on the infamous Cape Wrath Trail.

Setting out from Fort William on August 31 across the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, Martyn and his five-man team have set themselves a fundraising target of £100,000.

To find out more about Martyn’s challenge and to donate to his fundraiser, please visit www.capewrathtrail2019.com