Charity hero 'Big Pink Dress' to run Sunderland 10k - hours before a cancer operation

Charity hero Colin Burgin-Plews is facing an operation after being diagnosed with cancer.

The mega-fundraiser will have surgery on May 13 at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle after experts found a mass behind his bowel.

‘If you don’t laugh, you will cry your eyes out’

Yet just one day earlier, the man known as Big Pink Dress will courageously tackle the Sunderland 10k run to raise money for Cancer Research.

Undaunted Colin said: “I love that Sunderland run. They always do everything they can to make sure I am looked after.”

Doctors will not know what type of cancer he has until they operate. He faces chemotherapy and possibly will need a stoma bag depending on what is found.

Colin admitted: “There is never a great time to get something like this but if you don’t laugh, you will cry your eyes out. I am in the first bracket every time.”

‘I will be out of action for months’

Colin has a lymphoma and said: “They will cut from my chest to my stomach. They will have to move my organs across to get to it.

“I will be out of action for months but it is what it is.

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

“It has grown to four times the size since then, to around seven centimetres” he said.

Still running for charity

But in the meantime, he is still pressing ahead with his plans to be in Sunderland for the 10k.

He also hopes to recover after the operation in time to do the Relay for Life in Jarrow in July.

Colin has already surpassed his fundraising target of £1,000 and has reached £1,220.

He has done so much to help others over the years and has raised £150,000 for worthy causes, but he has done all that while suffering from serious health issues himself.

In July 2019, Colin was rushed to South Tyneside District Hospital after suffering a problem with a valve in his heart and high blood pressure.

On tablets for the rest of his life

He had a scan and now has to take tablets to control the problem for the rest of his life. Amazingly, he recovered sufficiently to do the Great North Run that same year.

In June 2021, he went through an operation to remove a mole which left him with 16 stitches and a four-inch scar, and with experts telling him he needs to be checked every three months for skin cancer.

Now he is facing a further health battle and told the Sunderland Echo: “I have had all sorts of tests and this is the next stage.”

To support Colin in his charity efforts, visit here.