A TERMINALLY ill man from Timperley is posing nude for prostate cancer.

Tony Collier is Mr July in a nude calendar raising awareness of the most common cancer in men.

Tony, the joint managing director of MBL accountants and former chairman of Altrincham Neighbourhood Plan and Altrincham Chamber of Commerce, described photography day.

“I had to be in Leeds at 9am for the shooting but that was straightforward. I just took my kit off.

“I was more concerned about getting to Manchester Airport for 11am for a fashion show.”

Fortunately, he knew the award winning Altrincham photographer, Martin Hambleton, and drove him to the Boxing Gym in Leeds.

Martin snapped him and the other 17 men, 14 of whom suffered from prostate cancer, in a friendly way.

Tony said: “Fortunately, Linda Tarbet, who founded The Prostate Cancer Support Group in 2017, gave us all a poster to hide our privates.”

Then they drove like the clappers to Manchester Airport for Runway, a fashion show in aid of Maggie’s Centre. This charity had helped Tony and his wife, Tracey with counselling.

“The feeling when they tell you it is terminal is indescribable. My wife and I were in a very dark place for about six months.”

At Maggie’s, in the grounds of the Christie Hospital, they told me: “Don’t think of it as dying. Think about it as living with cancer. Now it’s about living life to the full.”

So Tony was more than happy to be a model at the fashion show. In his role as an awareness volunteer, he gave two talks, one at the fashion show and, another at the following ball.

He is anxious to tell people about the hereditary aspect of prostate cancer and urges fathers to tell their sons to get tested.

He said: “I have already contributed to saving two people’s lives through this.”

In this year’s London Marathon, he raised £13,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.

Tony first visited a sports injury doctor in 2017 thinking he had a groin strain. An MRI scan revealed a shadow on the pelvic bone which indicated that the cancer had entered the bone, causing small fractures.

“They think I have had it for ten years without any symptoms,” he said.

The cancer has now reached his hip, spine, ribs, neck and skull, but he remains cheerful and still runs three times a week.

His oncologist, Dr John Logue, has prescribed a new pill, an alternative to chemotherapy, which, at £85 per day, is paid from Tony’s medical insurance.

The Living with PC 2019 calendar costs £8.50, plus postage. You can buy it at livingwithpc.com/calendar.