People & Lifestyle story, February 2006
| DOCTOR’S
STITCH IN TIME HELPS CANCER RESEARCH
A Wimbledon doctor is creating a six foot square quilt to raise cash for research into prostate disease. By: Andrea Kon |
| Going the extra mile: Dr Cathy Corbishley with her growing quilt. |
Pathologist Dr Cathy Corbishley, of Mostyn Road, wants sponsors to pay her by the yard, or even a mile, for each of the 1,760 yards of thread she will use.
The mother of two will spend 100 hours of her spare time over four months making the quilt, which will be appliqued with leaf shapes in green, rust and cream.
When completed, it will consist of nine quilted squares and will hang in the hallway at the Prostate Centre in London, a newly opened centre devoted to men’s health.
Her project has taken over almost every room in the home she shares with physicist husband Geoff and their teenage daughters.
Dr Corbishley, whose work involves the diagnosis of men’s cancers, particularly prostate cancer, said: "Finding room for it all isn’t easy. I evicted my husband Geoff from the wardrobe and I’ve taken over half the cupboard in the spare bedroom."
The quilt is her contribution towards One Million Prostate Miles, the Prostate Research Campaign’s charity appeal to raise £1million for prostate disease.
Almost 50 per cent of all men will suffer from an enlarged prostate, causing them problems by the time they reach 50. Every year, 30,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10,000 men die of it. Men of any age can suffer from prostatitis, a painful swelling of the prostate gland.
The quilt could be worth up to £1,000 when completed but Dr Corbishley has no plans for a career change. She currently works at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
For more information on Prostate Research Campaign UK, visit
www.prostate-research.org.uk.