A young cancer survivor has walked from Wolverhampton to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham to thank staff for his care.

Jake Welch was treated for testicular cancer on the Young Persons’ Unit at the hospital. He and his family were so moved by the compassion shown by staff that they organised the sponsored walk to raise funds for the hospital’s official charity.

The date of the walk – 5 June – was significant for Jake because exactly 12 months earlier he started having chemotherapy treatment at the hospital.

He was accompanied on the 17-mile walk from his mum Andrea Schifano’s home in Parkfields, Wolverhampton, to the hospital by 16 family and friends.

Jake said: “I spent a week on the unit and one of the things that impressed me most was not only the care that the staff gave to their patients, but also the compassion that they showed to the young patients and their families. They were really brilliant. We hope that doing this walk and fundraising for the hospital’s official charity will go some way to saying thank you for everything they’ve done.”

Jake had his final CT scan in December 2010 and was fortunate enough to be given the all clear in January.

Jake’s mum Andrea added: “Jake was treated under Professor Cullen and was part of a clinical trial which meant he only had to have one course of chemotherapy. We felt the only way to say a proper thank you to the fantastic staff who cared for him and us was by raising money. We want to enable them to continue to provide the high standard of care we received to other patients.

"The walk was hard going but we’re really proud of ourselves for doing it and helping to make a difference.”

For more information about how you can support patients being treated at QEHB, please visit the QEHB Charity website or call 0121 371 4852.