A Nottinghamshire man says he is now at his strongest after defeating his cancer diagnosis. Robert Toal, of Stapleford, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2014, and had to undergo surgery and "one large dose of chemotherapy" at City Hospital, Nottingham, due to the size of the tumour.
To help raise awareness of the condition and secure funds to fight the disease, Robert, who is a team manager at a Co-op logistics centre in Nottingham, took part in a charity mixed martial arts event.
The 42-year-old raised an impressive £1,300 at the event for Cancer Research UK. He explained that he signed up with Ultra MMA as it allowed him to learn new skills whilst also raising money for charity. The father-of-three was given the opportunity to take part in eight weeks of free professional MMA training before a charity event at Village Hotel, near Chilwell, in front of hundreds of spectators.
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Robert took part in the event in front of 30 members of his friends and family, but sadly lost two rounds to one in a contest with Kamil Pruchniewski. He said: "It was incredible just to go the three rounds.
"It was a nice ending as we had been training together since day one. There was so much mutual respect between us at the end - we sat down and had a pint together.
"It might seem a strange way of describing it, but we'd been through quite an intimate experience together. We were there for the same reason, to raise as much money as possible."
Robert also took part in an Ultra boxing event in 2019, as well as an Ultra MMA event in 2021. He said: "It's so hard to describe the feeling of stepping into the ring.
"I was a bit of a rabbit in the headlights when I did the boxing in 2019. I made a conscious effort to really enjoy it this time around, I wanted to absorb it all."
Robert trained for the MMA fight at Rebels Gym in Radford, and was coached by the 'amazing' Andrew Miller, Steve Kent and Jack Fraser. He added: "The coaches were amazing people, they all pushed us so hard.
"They were good at getting just that little bit more out of us because they knew that we were capable of it. I lost two stone during the training for the November event, and feel a lot fitter now.
"It motivated me to try other things - you realise that you have more potential. I'm a member of Fearless Martial Arts, a kickboxing club in Ilkeston, and I've moved up a training category because I realised I should be pushing myself more."
"All the amazing people in the hospital did everything they could to give me the best treatment. They did all the fighting."
He continued: "The MMA is just something I can give back, it's not much of a comparison. I was quite numb to the fear of the cancer to start with.
"It's not until you start the treatment that you start to realise what is happening. It was amazing getting the all clear in 2019, it's not until you actually get the results that you can breathe a sigh of relief.
"Having cancer made me stronger, and made us more of a family unit. Some of my friends became really, really close when this was happening.
"A lot of those friends and family who were with me through cancer came to support me for the fight, including my brother James. They saw me at my lowest during cancer, and at my strongest on the night of the event."
Robert has used his experience with cancer to raise awareness on social media, by reminding people to get checked and speaking to his friends and family about his experience. He said: "I've done a lot of campaigning on social media to get people to check themselves for testicular cancer.
"People reach out to me to ask me about possible symptoms. My son's old karate teacher found a lump, which turned out to be testicular cancer.
"He needed someone outside of his family to speak to about it, someone who wasn't just going to say 'everything will be fine' all the time."
Robert wanted to take part in Ultra MMA to try a new challenge, and has said: "My advice to people wondering if they should do it, is to just go for it. It was an amazing experience."
The next Ultra MMA event takes place in Nottingham on November 11, 2023, and training starts in the week commencing September 18.
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