Eagle-eyed Ludlow barber who convinced teenage client to get lump checked out is praised after cancer caught

Seventeen-year-old Owen Norgrove was persuaded by a Turkish barber in Ludlow to get his skin checked after he spotted a lump on his neck.

Mum Hayley Norgrove, 45, said: “Owen is in remission now but he had just turned 16 and went to have a haircut at a Turkish barbers in Corve Street, Ludlow.

“He spotted a little lump on his neck and advised him to go to the doctors.”

Owen took the advice and was sent for a biopsy. It was confirmed that he had Hodgkin lymphoma, an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.

“All involved jumped into action,” said mum Hayley, operations director at Dulson Training.

After being given the choice of going to Birmingham every day for six months for treatment or to travel to Shrewsbury, Owen took the Shropshire option.

There he met with Becky Salisbury, specialist Teenage Cancer Trust clinical liaison nurse who has 41 patients under her wing. Her role is funded by the charity.

“Becky was there for him, to shield him from the things he did not need to see,” said Mrs Norgrove who is married to Jason Norgrove, aged 51, a watch manager with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Owen, an agricultural engineering apprentice who lives with his family near Ludlow, met other teenagers going through the same journey and said he has made friends for life.

Mrs Norgrove and Owen attended a meeting of the board of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust (SaTH) on Thursday (September 11) to tell the leaders about their experiences of care.

“We’re here for Owen to tell his story and how important it was for him to have Becky alongside him,” said Mrs Norgrove. “It was invaluable support.”

Mrs Norgrove told the board that she “cannot fault the service” given to her son by the NHS and the Teenage Cancer Trust nurse.

Owen, who is now in remission and has to attend check-ups, said he “feels great".

The trust board was told that the family has raised some £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. His older brother Jed and father Jason are signed up for next year’s London Marathon.

Owen, who is in the back row in his team at Ludlow Rugby Club, has also been given fundraising backing by them.

Mrs Norgrove told the board that the “journey would have been a lot harder without Becky”. She was able to help Owen with “feelings in his body” as well as being there for him and other patients.

“I hope that the support for this can continue because not every family can travel to Birmingham for 14 hours of chemotherapy,” she added.

Owen, who missed his last year of school, told the board that he has been in remission since June last year.

He took a maths exam on Wednesday, which board chairman Andrew Morgan joked meant that he had two days of excitement.

“Life isn’t always as exciting as having a maths exam and then coming to a board meeting,” he said.

Mr Morgan added: “Well done to the Turkish barber in Ludlow.”

Mrs Norgrove said she had only “one negative” about the treatment. She told the board that Owen had to go back in to hospital immediately following treatment.

But he had to spend a “night sitting in a room with no immune system, surrounded by people coughing and spluttering". He then had a “nasty seizure” on the ward.

Ned Hobbs, the trust’s chief operating officer, said it is “really important to hear about spending a night in an acute medical unit".

“We have got to address that, it is not a negative and it is important that you share that with us.”

The Acute Medical Assessment unit and the Same Day Emergency Care unit are swapping locations at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.