Steve Parry, the Olympic 200m 'fly bronze medallist in Athens 2004, is throwing his energies into a campaign to get the kids of his home town Liverpool swimming, even though he has another fight to deal with. The British international and now part-time BBC radio expert on swimming revealed to his local media this week that he has been battling cancer.
Parry, 33 next month, told the Liverpool Echo: "A few weeks after getting married I found out that I had testicular cancer, around October, which was a bit of a shocker. I still don't currently know at this stage whether there will be any need for chemotherapy as with this - as all too many people probably already know - they never quite say that you are in the clear.
"But at the moment it's good and every six weeks I am going for CAT scans and getting blood tests done. But I refused to let it become a big deal. I just went in there, got the thing done and now I'm just thankful and hopeful that it's behind me.
"What it really has opened up my eyes to though is just how many people are struggling with their health and stuff. It sounds cheesy, but it does make you think how lucky we all are really, as long as you've got your health you're laughing. But my situation recently just adds weight to the belief that the more active and healthy we can be the better. We should all be good to ourselves."
Parry revealed that his father had suffered cancer at an early age and that his sister-in-law had died from the condition in her early 30s. "It's a shocking disease and another aim of mine before the end of the year is to raise some serious cash to help people that do suffer from it," said Parry.
In his battle, Parry gained motivation from a special source: Lance Armstrong and his foundation. "Not long after I was diagnosed I got a lovely letter from Lance Armstrong," said Parry. "He sent me a note and a pack and in there he said things like, "You've always had tough battles in terms of your sport in training and competition and this one is going to be tough as well, but you'll smash it up."
Parry, his keen sense of honour to the fore, added: "So yes, it's be a very interesting last 12 months. Getting married, getting cancer and really building the business. But the marriage is the tough one ... My wife Thea is definitely the boss of me now."
SwimNews wishes Steve all the best - on all fronts.
