World Cancer Day: Feb 4, 2025 – Firefighter shares cancer experience to encourage men to talk

A firefighter who discovered he had prostate cancer has urged men to be more open about their health problems to help save lives.

Grant Maclachlan, 55, is an on call firefighter based at Auchterarder Community Fire Station. He has served his local community for more than 30 years. He also works primarily as a site manager for a house builder. 

It was his wife, Sandra, who prompted Grant to go to his doctor after he experienced difficulty in the bedroom. Grant visited his doctor in February 2023 and received tests which led to a prostate cancer diagnosis. 

Grant said: “I very rarely go to a doctor. I class myself as fit and healthy, but my wife said ‘maybe you need some little blue pills’. Men tend to get embarrassed about talking about these things, but I listened to her. I went to the doctor. People have asked me what made me go to the GP and I was embarrassed and initially kept that to myself. Now I have spoken about things I never imagined I could.”

After visiting his GP and receiving tests and further investigations, Grant then received a phone call from a cancer nurse and the devastating diagnosis. The father of three then had to break the news to his wife and family.

He said: “I was at work and had to go home and tell my wife. It must have been a good four or five hours before I managed to tell her, and we hadn’t told the children anything at this point, we had kept it to ourselves. However, I was also told I was very fortunate that I had caught it early.”

With his wife, Grant looked at his treatment options and in May 2023, he underwent an operation to remove the prostate which resulted in a catheter being fitted.

Back home, Grant was doing well until a blood clot led to him spending five days in hospital. Then just weeks later, he received another devastating diagnosis.

His cancer nurse phoned him and told him the cancer was gone from his prostate but while he was in hospital getting scans for the blood clot, a growth was discovered on his kidney.

Grant said: “It was totally unrelated, and they were 99.9% sure it was cancerous. The nurse couldn’t believe it and said no-one has this luck.

“I had never heard of kidney cancer and there isn’t a test for it, other than a scan. We were able to find out about prostate cancer, but we were totally blind about kidney cancer.”

Grant met the specialist, had some scans and was told they would have to move quickly to operate on his kidney. 

Two weeks post-operation he got a phone call to say the procedure had been a success and no further treatment was required. 

He said: “I feel great and very lucky. It was my wife who made me go to the doctors with the prostate issue which led to an early diagnosis.”

After almost seven months off, Grant returned to work and after passing his fitness tests, returned to operational duties.

Grant said: “The Service and the senior gaffer have been brilliant. They visited me at home, and I was offered various support networks.

“The worst bits were being told the prostate cancer could have spread to the bones and it was three weeks of hell waiting for that result, and the time between the two operations. I did find it tough, and I went to the local Maggie’s centre a couple of times.

“It was really my wife and my family who got me through this, they have been brilliant.”

Grant wants to encourage men to talk but admits it wasn’t easy for him to open up. 

He said: “You have to talk about things, and if there is something wrong you have to go to the GP. It may be nothing but it maybe something. Luckily, I went and got checked out.”

Grant’s dad, Alastair, who had also been a firefighter for 25 years, passed away in October 2023 aged 84 due to melanoma cancer. He had previously been diagnosed with prostate cancer around 12 years ago but had never spoken about it to Grant, who only found out about his dad’s prostate cancer around four years ago. 

Grant said: “I know it’s difficult, but people have got to talk about these things.”

Link to video:  World Cancer Day – Firefighter’s Story

Further information at: Prostate Scotland