King Charles formed an immediate connection with cancer patients during a visit to the newly redeveloped Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Centre at York Hospital. The monarch toured the £2.4 million facility, which is set to open soon and will support thousands of people living with cancer in the region each year.
Among those he met was Lou Rhodes, 49, from Hopgrove in York, who lives with stage 4 secondary breast cancer and helped design the centre as a patient representative. She described the encounter as 'an absolute honour', adding: 'The King was just lovely, so personable, so friendly. I just seemed to connect with him straightaway. He’s got cancer, I’ve got cancer, and straightaway he sort of looked in my eyes, so you’ve got that bond I suppose.'
Ms Rhodes, who lost her father to cancer, told the King about her father's death, to which he replied: 'There’s such a lot of it about.' The King, royal patron of Macmillan Cancer Support, also spoke with health professionals about the centre's design and services, and planted a Macmillan rose in the purpose-built garden.
Earlier in the day, Charles visited the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s York Biotech Campus to learn about a project using oral contraceptives to control grey squirrel numbers and protect red squirrels. Dr Julie Lane praised the King's 'innate understanding that we need to be in harmony with nature'. The King was presented with a framed photograph of a red squirrel taken by field ecologist Erin Thomas.
