Cancer education gets a boost from The Ricky Casey Trust

We are so proud to announce that the work of the Trust has led to the NHS developing a new education module dedicated to the early detection and treatment of kidney cancers.

We have been working with our trustee, and Consultant Oncologist at the Christie, Tom Waddell, since 2024 to develop and help shape the content and patient-perspective elements of this new module. It is now available via the national GatewayC platform, and will help GPs and primary care clinicians across the UK.

Speaking to the Saddleworth Independent, Trust founder Nicola said: “Ricky wouldn't believe what was happening. What we went through is now potentially saving lives. He knew how rare it was, but the big thing now is that I've turned that tragedy into a positive. You don't realise what a big thing that is until people in the NHS are saying, ‘Do you realise what you've done?'”

She continued: “When Ricky was first poorly, when he first went to the GP, they'd never seen the signs or symptoms, and they'd never heard of this type of cancer. It took Ricky five-and-a-half months to get a diagnosis, but it all starts at the GP, doesn't it?

“Hopefully they make a decision on patients and put them on a cancer pathway a lot sooner. It's been 18 months in the making and obviously, it took a lot to get through it all.”

Tom Waddell said that the charity's dedication — alongside Nicola's perspective and the Trust's involvement — had brought an authenticity to the training that will resonate with those in the medical world.

This is a really important step in our journey to raising awareness of Renal Medullary Carcinoma (RMC) and other rare renal cancers, but it's not the end. In her newspaper interview, Nicola added: “It's a massive thing to get the NHS, for such a small charity with a rare kidney cancer, to even listen to you. Seeing this is just crazy, really.

“A guy I started to help four years ago is having clear scans now, and my drive and passion about this is another level. That's just one person, and I always said, ‘If I could just save one person, I'll have done my job.'

“I'm in touch with professors in America now that can collaborate with the Christie and share knowledge. We can't do the same as America, but we can communicate and do whatever is possible to help the patient. I'm at the forefront of that, the driving force of it.

“We do so many local events to raise awareness and funds, but we also want people to see that the work we do behind the scenes, projects like this, is just as important and only possible because of the incredible support we receive.

“But we're not going to stop there. We're going to carry on.”

You can read the full story on the Saddleworth Independent website.