Karate instructor Bernard Taylor on prostate cancer fight

Aug 2 2010 by Kevin Core, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

WHEN karate instructor Bernard Taylor was told he had prostate cancer, his reaction was simple:

“Right then. Let’s get on with it.”

The response came as no surprise to students at Colne Valley Black Belt Academy who decided to support their teacher by using their Yorkshire Day demonstration at Beaumont Park yesterday to help fight cancer themselves.

Bernard, 65, a Fifth Dan black belt and joint founder of the club, only discovered he had the disease during preliminary tests before he underwent a hip operation.

He explained: “I knew I needed to have an operation on my hip, it’s quite possible it was my own fault.

“I’d ignored a few problems and carried on training through the pain, but eventually I knew it needed looking at.

“I will have both done, but they wanted to do my right first because it was virtually solid and they booked me in to have the operation on July 13.

“They had been carrying out routine tests and they looked at one of the levels in my blood and asked me to come back in.

“After more tests they brought me back and said ‘You have prostate cancer’.

“It was only found because of the blood tests for the hip operation – I’ve been very lucky.

“The operation was postponed because they needed to check if the cancer had gone into the bone, which meant an MRI scan.