A dad who was fit and healthy noticed a worrying symptom before being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and he continues to defy the odds.
Kevin Webber, from Epsom, Surrey, was 49 years old in August 2014 when he began waking up multiple times a night to urinate while on holiday.
Concerned, he booked a doctor’s appointment — and just a few months later, on November 8, he was told he had incurable stage 4 advanced prostate cancer.
“At the time I was a fit, working, family guy and running the odd marathon as a way of staying healthy,” he recalled in a release from The Royal Marsden hospital, where he has received treatment ever since.
Doctors told him he might only have two years to live, three or four “if I’m lucky.” That prognosis was more than a decade ago.
Speaking to PEOPLE about the moment he heard the news, Webber shared: “Shock, tears and denial. One minute I was planning retirement in 15 years time, and the next I wouldn’t even see my youngest start high school.
"I spent the first month in tears and an emotional whirlwind as all I heard was bad news. Since then my advice to anyone with any bad news is to not waste days being upset and doing nothing when you may still be able to do what you love.”
Despite undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy, Webber hasn’t stopped pushing himself. Since his diagnosis, he’s run more than 18,000 miles, including two marathons while still on chemo.
“It gets harder that’s for sure, but I never use cancer as the excuse even if it is that,” he told PEOPLE. “Let’s face it, I am 60 now, not 40! As my wife Sarah says, ‘If I wake in the morning and feel okay, it’s going to be a good day!’ ”
To mark a decade since his diagnosis, Webber took on one of his most meaningful runs yet.
On November 5 last year, he set out to complete 10 round trips between his Epsom home and The Royal Marsden in Sutton — 80 miles in total, all in under 24 hours, per BBC News.
“If I manage this, it will be the longest I have ever run in 24 hours,” Webber said before the challenge. “Every lap will be for a year of my life [with cancer], a different department of The Royal Marsden who have kept me alive, and someone who has helped me along the way. I would love to make a real difference to the hospital that is so important to so many.”
He was joined along the route by family, friends, and even his consultant Professor Chris Parker, who praised him: “Kevin’s dedication to fundraising and raising awareness of prostate cancer is really astonishing.”
Webber has already raised more than £10,000 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, with his determination showing no signs of slowing down.
Beyond his charity run, Webber has tackled brutal races across Europe.
Among them was a 130-mile trek through Sweden’s icy wilderness.
“It was great,” he told PEOPLE of the experience, which involved -25°C temperatures, frozen lake crossings, and nights in basic huts. “Mercifully, only one night of that,” he joked of having to sleep in an unheated tepee.
He’s also completed a 230k race in southern Spain, a 34-mile run across Dartmoor National Park in under eight hours, and is already planning challenges in North Africa and a return to the Sahara in 2026.
“What I love is that every race has jeopardy. I never take it for granted that I will finish and occasionally I have not but if you always finish you never really know your limits do you?” he said.
“All I and anyone can do in life is train to the best of your ability, put your foot on the start line and give everything. That applies to running, but also any challenge in life from cooking a complicated meal to doing an exam.”
While defying the odds with his own health, Webber now spends much of his time encouraging others to listen to their bodies.
“Like many men, going to your general practitioner is something I never really did. However, going to the doctor with your symptoms or any changes in your body you can't explain will hopefully put your mind at rest,” he said.
“I know from my experience that if there is a problem, then the earlier it is discovered, the more likely it is to be easier to treat and that you will have a positive outcome. A simple test at the GP could save your life.”