Inspirational medic sparks charity effort

Carl Humphries, the former head of the Cardiothoracic Anaesthetic Department, died last year after a long battle with prostate cancer.

During the 18 months the father-of-two battled cancer, he raised £15,000 for charities.

Now his colleagues at the Lancashire Cardiac Centre have been raising funds both individually and as part of “Team Carlos”.

Carl’s widow, Diana, recently accepted a cheque for £516.20 for the charity Prostate Cancer UK.

Diana said: “Carl was very much into cycling and he ran three half-marathons when he had prostate cancer. He raised about £11,000 over the last few years of his life for Prostate Centre UK.

“Our son, Rory, has recorded a CD. It has five songs and one of them is about his dad’s funeral. Rory’s school donated the CDs and all proceeds will go to Prostate Cancer UK.

“Our son Ali ran the London Marathon last year with Carl’s sister, Lisa.”

Katie Bridge, operating department practitioner, said: “Carl was amazing. He was nice, kind, funny and genuine. Everyone felt that about him.

“We raised the money by selling raffle tickets at the party.”

Dr Helen Saunders, consultant anaesthetist for the Trust, is a member of Team Carlos.

Helen said: “Carl inspired lots of us who hadn’t done much running before to get into it. He got everyone going and brought everyone together – he was very good at that.

“Team Carlos ran the Movember 10k in Manchester on November 9, 2014, and the Manchester 10K on May 10, 2015.

“We have raised nearly £2,000 from sponsorship and will keep going with more events inspired by Carl.”