'I'm cancer free': Emotional message from fundraising star 'Big Pink Dress' Colin

A two year battle with a lymphoma came to a dramatic conclusion for the fundraising star when experts told him: ‘There’s no cancer at all’.

‘I was bawling with tears’

He shared a video message with us in which he said: ‘I am so happy. Thanks for all the support’.

Colin had gone for one of his regular check-ups at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and wasn’t expecting the incredible news.

He admitted: “I was bawling with tears and laughing at the same time.

“I had never realised until then how much it had stressed me out.”

A scar from his chest to his navel

He thanked the people of Sunderland and South Tyneside for their incredible support and added: “I will definitely be doing the Sunderland 10k run and the Great North Run this year.”

Colin had surgery on May 13 last year at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle after experts found a mass behind his bowel.

He had a scar which stretched from his chest past his navel when they took out infected lymph nodes.

The cancer mass was revealed when Colin went into hospital for an unrelated scan and experts found a shadow.

‘I was thinking to myself ‘please let it be gone’ and then they said ‘There is no cancer at all’

It grew to four times the size since then, to around seven centimetres.

But Colin, from South Shields, said today: “I went for my four monthly check yesterday and it was the usual thing with dyes to see where the cancer has gone.

“I was thinking to myself ‘please let it be gone’ and then they said ‘There is no cancer at all’.

“The thing with cancer is you can’t really say ‘I am going to have a holiday next year’ or things like that because your time might be up. It is a horrible feeling.

“After I left the hospital. I was walking down the street and grinning at everyone. They must have thought I was mad!

‘I phoned my wife and said ‘I am all clear’ and she said ‘oh my God’

Colin will now face regular monitoring to make sure the cancer does not return but he added: “I was on my own for the check-up and I was a bit in shock.”

“I phoned my wife and said ‘I am all clear’ and she said ‘oh my God’.”

He had the chance to ring the bell - the tradition that marks the end of cancer treatment - but Colin explained: “There were a lot of people around who were waiting to go for chemotherapy and it did not seem right’.

Colin still faces a further health battle before he can tackle the Sunderland 10k and the Great North Run as he also has diabetes type 2.

But he said: “I will definitely do them.”