"It's not impossible": Driven Royal Navy diver vows to return to ops despite "shock" bowel cancer diagnosis

Petty Officer Diver James King was diagnosed with stage two bowel cancer after noticing symptoms while serving in the Gulf. The 36-year-old father of two now wears a colostomy bag following a seven hour surgery in May, with the affliction originally being spotted in March.

His comrades in the Clearance Diving Branch have rallied behind him and his family by launching a fundraiser, pledging to walk 320km from the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group on Horsea Island in Portsmouth to Bravo Diving Unit 1 in Plymouth while wearing diving suits.

PO (D) King said the diagnosis came as a major surprise. “I knew something wasn’t quite right”, he told The News, “but did the typical bloke thing of just ignoring it for a couple of weeks and thinking it’ll go away. Things didn’t go away. It wasn’t until I got back to Plymouth that things moved very quickly, and within two weeks, I was diagnosed.

“It wasn’t on the minds of many of the doctors. I’m not overweight, never smoked, and had no family history of cancer. They took it seriously, but it was a shock despite it being in the back of my mind. Even the surgeons didn’t think it would be the worst thing, but it was.”

Living with cancer

PO (D) King, who has served in the Royal Navy for over 19 years, said his condition has affected his wife Becky the most. He added that his two children, aged five and nine, are slightly too young to grasp the severity of the disease. His next surgery in December will reverse the colostomy process, but it can take up to six months for the diver’s body to recover and adapt back to normality.

Living with bowel cancer has been a “complete lifestyle change”, PO (D) King said, but it’s not stopping him from doing what he wants to do. “Last time they kept telling me it was a major surgery, and I didn’t realise until I woke up and couldn’t move for a couple of days,” he added. “Age, health, and fitness are all on my side. They’re positive and seem to think the surgery will go well.

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“The only thing they don’t know is how my body will react to going back to normal. I’m more worried about what can happen afterwards, as it can be quite debilitating. I’m confident, but there’s always the element of doubt in your head.”

The future

One of PO (D) King’s biggest worries is financial and whether he can maintain his beloved career. He wants to give back to the Royal Navy given all the support they’ve shown him, allowing the diver to keep active and focus on a healthy recovery by using its facilities, and securing his short term financial future.

“Whether I go back to diving is a different story,” he said. “That’s going to be a long journey. It’s not impossible though. My aim is to go back to it and have said that from day one. I want to finish my career, if they’ll let me.

“I feel guilty as the Navy have kept paying me. They’ve alluded to keeping me for another three years and securing my pension, providing it all goes well. They’re giving me everything I need to recover in the best possible way. If I wasn’t in the armed forces, I might have been struggling to pay the mortgage, which isn’t worth thinking about.”

PO (D) King initially only told his closest friends and family about the diagnosis. Petty Officer Diver Josh Spibey, who set up the fundraiser, was one of them. “We were all in shock and almost in disbelief,” he said. “At that age, you don’t expect it, especially from your military peers.”

The diver said he hopes the fundraiser, which has currently raised £5,550, can provide a safety net for the King family. “He’s put all his eggs in one basket with his military career,” he added. “He’s devoted himself to it without thinking of anything else. I don’t think we’ve ever known for anyone to bounce back from bowel cancer and dive again.

“He has got financial concerns moving forward, and we wanted to ease the burden by providing him something which can benefit him immediately. We’re one big family, and his brotherhood. As the man sitting next to you often has your life in his hands.”

The 320km route has been broken up into 20 mile segments. Around 70 personnel have volunteered, expected to wear 35kg uncomfortable uniforms not designed for land. “The lads are pretty robust, but it’s a testing time of year with the conditions,” PO (D) Spibey said.

“Most of us are looking forward to it. I’m optimistic and we’re trying to get it done in ten days. There will be ups and downs.”

Health permitting, PO (D) King wishes to walk the last 10km section. He added: “I don’t know what state I’ll be in, but I’ll aim to join them. The only people who will stop me are the doctors and surgeons.”

A link to the fundraiser can be found here.