The Mouth Cancer 10KM Awareness Walk is a great way to generate publicity about head and neck cancers. Help by stepping out to make a difference this September.
Sorabh Patel, 22, a dental student from Thornton Heath, Surrey, is taking part in the 9th annual Mouth Cancer 10KM Awareness Walk for the first time.
Sorabah has rallied a team of 30 fellow dental students from King’s College London Dental Institute to form ‘Kings Against Cancer’ to raise money for one of the UK’s leading mouth cancer charities, the Mouth Cancer Foundation. Team ‘Kings Against Cancer’ consist of Anisha Panchal, Roxanne Mehdizadeh, Jack McSweeney, Laura Borrie, Sarita Kang, Aarthi Suresh, Saranya Konathala, Anish Patel, Zujajah Mirza, Ronnie Datta, Yihan Miao, Ashwini Mohan, Tripat Mahajan, Fran Siodlak, Ben Neo, Alan Kefrosh, Roshni Sanikop, Abbas Ali Manji, Aditi Goel, Ameena Khurshid, Heena Nirmal, Balraj Singh, Sagar Patel, Dev Manu, Rachel Loke, Salman Sheikh, Tuba Pishgharavol, Priya Pattar, Alina Malik and Sunmeet Kandhari.
Sorabh and his team members decided to step out and take part in the walk this year because they would like to raise a greater awareness of mouth cancer. As dental students, they understand it is a debilitating disease which may strike anyone at anytime. Sorabh says “Mouth cancer is something we all have studied. As future dentists, we want to find a cure and develop better treatment to help our future patients. The fight with mouth cancer is long so we decided to band together and take part in this incredible event to help the Mouth Cancer Foundation raise much needed funds to allow it to continue its vital work.”
The Mouth Cancer 10KM Awareness Walk is taking place on Saturday, September 20 in London’s Hyde Park. People travel from all over the country to celebrate survivorship and spread the message about how important it is to detect mouth cancer early, spot the signs and know the symptoms.
In the UK, nearly 8000 people are diagnosed with mouth cancer every year and around 60,000 people will be diagnosed over the next decade. It has a worst ratio of deaths to cases compared with skin, cervical, breast and prostate cancers and affects more men than women. Sadly, mouth cancer is also still detected too late with dire consequences.
Mouth cancer can occur in any part of the mouth, tongue, lips and adjacent areas like the throat, salivary glands, pharynx, larynx, sinus and other sites in the head and neck area.
Founder of the Mouth Cancer Foundation Vinod Joshi says “The Mouth Cancer 10KM Awareness Walk is a great opportunity for mouth cancer survivors, their families and friends, the public and health professionals to come together and stand up against this debilitating disease.”
To take part in the free Mouth Cancer Foundation 10 KM Awareness Walk visit www.mouthcancerwalk.org. To support team ‘Kings Against Cancer’, please go to www.justgiving.com/KingsAgainstCancer