FRIENDS at a gym in the Yate area are due to take part in a massive 15-hour workout challenge in honour of a fellow gym member who has terminal colon cancer.

Before his diagnosis, Mark Butcher was a regular at Kokoro Fitness in Iron Acton, having joined with his life-long friend, David Champion.

In November 2021, Mark started experiencing "sudden abdominal pains", which was initially thought by medics to be appendicitis.

However, a scan later revealed that Mark’s bowel was completely blocked by a cancerous tumour and the cancer had spread to his liver. 

“They stopped counting at 18 tumours..."

Mark, 45, said: “At that point they believed they could cure it so later that day they took the biopsies and found that the cancer was in every section of my liver. 

“They stopped counting at 18 tumours and at that point my diagnosis changed to palliative care. 

“It was a huge shock and blow to me.”

Mark underwent a gruelling 15-hour operation last June to treat the disease - which is labelled 'the Mother of All Surgeries' by medics.

David Champion has organised a charity workout challenge in Iron Acton in honour of his friend Mark Butcher (Image: St Peter's Hospice)

The surgery involved an incision from Mark's sternum to his pelvis to cut out all the cancerous cells, followed by heated chemotherapy to remove any remaining cancer cells. 

Mark lost part of his liver, bowel and gallbladder in the procedure.

Mark said: “It's such massive, invasive surgery that there’s a risk you might not make it through. 

“I had scans afterwards which showed no evidence of cancer, but then I had some more scans which showed that some of the cancer cells have grown back. 

“I’m a year down the line now and I wouldn’t have had that extra year if it wasn’t for the surgery. 

“My life is fairly independent at the moment - I get tired and I have a big scar but apart from that you wouldn’t know that I’ve had an operation of that magnitude, which is incredible really.”

Lifelong friends, Mark and David, enjoying a beer at their sixth form's leavers ball (Image: St Peter's Hospice)

'The Mother of all Workouts'

Mark’s best friend David has now organised a workout challenge to raise money for St Peter's Hospice and Bowel Cancer UK.

The fundraiser - which has been nicknamed 'The Mother of all Workouts' - has been planned with individual workouts each hour to honour Mark’s endurance in surgery. 

The challenge will take place tomorrow, Saturday, June 22 with 51 people expected to take part.

David said: “The gym’s held a very special place for us and is the perfect place to honour Mark. 

“He went into his diagnosis being the fittest and healthiest ever which did help him in many of the treatments that he’s had. 

“We’ve planned a themed workout for every one of the 15 hours, and overall, 51 people are taking part. 

“We end with The Butch, an intense workout reflecting Mark’s endurance. 

“His teenage daughter and her friends will join us for that workout and we’re hoping Mark can do the final bit, to finish it in style.”

Mark Butcher was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal bowel cancer in 2021  (Image: St Peter's Hospice)

"Bowel cancer isn’t an old man’s disease"

David added: “Mark’s a very special character and he’s very stoic. 

“He’s carried on relentlessly in his pursuit to not take no for an answer. 

“I said that when we joined the gym our dream was to do some competitions together and it never quite worked out. 

“But this event will come a close second.

“One of the nicest things about doing this is the lovely messages of support we’ve received. 

“Friends we haven’t seen in years have been in touch, sending messages and donations. 

“Many have shared messages about the support the hospice has offered them and that’s made us realise what a valuable service it is to the local community. 

“We hope by doing this we can raise awareness that bowel cancer isn’t an old man’s disease and raise funds to support these charities.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here - tinyurl.com/dvbymk8x