Bob Arthy doesn’t take no for an answer. There isn’t a local publication or radio station that hasn’t covered his mission to increase awareness of prostate cancer. If they don’t fit his message in one week, he’ll be back the next to convince them to give him column space or airtime. Bob leads FOPS, one of the smallest but most active support groups in the country, from his base in Chorleywood and his determination has paid dividends. FOPS, Friends of Prostate Sufferers, is now a sixty strong group, striving to advise men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and support their families. And they do a top job. Ten of the founder members got together for a celebratory supper at The Bedford Arms in Chenies this week to mark five years since FOPS started. Surgeon Alvan Pope summed up how Bob had reacted to his own battle with cancer,
“You meet patients who change you in life and make you think about humanity. Many get depressed and others go the other way. Bob was determined right from the start to help others. His optimism keeps everyone going.”