Phil Bradshaw, a 73-year-old grandfather from Out Rawcliffe, Lancashire, has spoken about continuing to cycle five years after being diagnosed with stage 4B lung cancer. He was given just 15 to 17 months to live when he received the diagnosis in June 2021.
Treatment and current status
Phil was treated with osimertinib, a targeted medication taken as a daily tablet, which he has continued for around five years. His latest results appear to suggest possible disease progression, and he is soon due to see his oncologist to discuss his next treatment options.
Potential treatments include immunotherapy, another targeted medication and two types of chemotherapy. The former nurse and university lecturer remains determined to live life on his own terms.
Initial symptoms and diagnosis
Phil initially believed he was suffering from a chest infection after struggling with symptoms for several months. He first became unwell in January 2021 and was prescribed antibiotics. When he did not improve, an X-ray found nothing out of the ordinary, but a later X-ray revealed a suspicious shadow.
Phil was suffering from severe dizziness when his wife Gill, 67, called NHS 111, which escalated the call to 999 at the end of May that year. At the hospital, he was recognised by a paramedic due to his time working at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. The paramedic asked what Phil thought should happen next, and Phil recalled: “I said: ‘Blimey, I need a CT scan. I need to find out what’s going on.'”
Following talks with doctors, Phil was told to go to his GP for an urgent CT scan. Several days later, the scan revealed tumours in both lungs, and he was referred to a chest clinic where doctors suspected cancer. Further tests found tumours in his brain, and an oncologist diagnosed him with stage 4B lung cancer, meaning the cancer had spread beyond his lungs.
Living with cancer
Looking back on the prognosis of 15 to 17 months, Phil said he and his wife were 'shell-shocked'. Gill had previously been diagnosed with stage 3B bowel cancer in 2018 and undergone successful chemotherapy and surgery. “Gill was so positive when she was having chemotherapy, that became the blueprint,” Phil noted.
Asked how his career as a nurse and senior lecturer in nurse education, teaching palliative and end-of-life care, helped him, Phil stated: “It can only be a blessing because I’ve seen it up close with people in dire circumstances. I’m very fortunate. I’ve had a wonderful life and done lots of things that people only dream about.”
He added: “One of the words I hate is ‘cancer journey’. I’m not on a journey. I’m living my life, and life is wonderful.”
Cycling and looking ahead
Phil and Gill, who have three kids and seven grandchildren, live on a smallholding of around five or six acres in rural Lancashire. Having not ridden a bike for around five decades, Phil decided to take part in Sir Chris Hoy’s Tour de 4 cycling challenge after watching Hoy discuss it in 2025. He and a friend completed the event and returned to do it again this year.
“It’s just so nice to be with people who are trying to do something about the perception of cancer. It’s not all doom and gloom. Your life continues,” he said. This year, riders with stage four cancer were offered gold armbands to recognise others in a similar position. Phil spotted another gold-armband cyclist at traffic lights, and they discovered they were both living with stage four lung cancer. Phil said: “He asked: ‘How are you doing?’ and I said: ‘I’m doing good’. He said he was doing good too, and we did a high five.”
Looking ahead, Phil said cancer remains 'at the back of my mind', and he is more focused on making the most of each day. He continues to cycle and spend time with Gill and his family.
