WHEN James Robertson underwent radiotherapy to battle a rare form of mouth cancer, he was so tired he could barely drive himself to hospital for the treatment.

But the 52-year-old, from Murcott, is now the fittest he has ever been thanks to the expert treatment he received at two Oxford hospitals.

And the father of two is getting ready to take his message of recovery to the streets, by taking part in the Mouth Cancer 10km Awareness Walk through central London this weekend.

Mr Robertson said when he first went to the doctor in 2008 with a ‘tickle in his throat’ he thought it was a fish bone.

He said: “I went back to the doctors two or three times because I kept feeling this scratching in the back of my throat.

“I was feeling fairly healthy and fit and don’t smoke, so naively I never imagined it was cancer.

“Eventually, on my last visit, they discovered a lump had appeared and I was told it was cancer of the tonsils.”

Mr Robertson underwent a 15-hour operation at the John Radcliffe Hospital. His jaw had to be broken and his face was opened from his lower lip to his throat and from ear to ear.

Surgeons then worked to remove the tumour, which had spread from his tonsils to his soft palette – the tissue making up the back of the roof of the mouth – and into his lymph glands.

Plastic surgeons reconstructed the roof of his mouth using tissue taken from his arm, and finally his jaw was screwed back together.

He is now able to speak again thanks to a special device.

Mr Robertson will be taking part in the walk with his son, Alexander, 13, as members of the ‘Heads2gether’ team, a support group offering advice and help for head and neck cancer patients, carers, and relatives.

Mr Robertson said his experience of cancer made him keen to become as fit as he possibly could, and taking part in the walk is a small part of his training for the 2011 London Marathon.

He said: “To be honest I feel fitter now than I ever have done.

“I won’t be taking sponsorship for this walk. For me, it is about raising awareness.

Head and neck cancers are relatively uncommon and therefore not always easily identified.

Mr Robertson added: “Awareness of symptoms and early detection makes a successful outcome from treatment significantly more likely.” The Mouth Cancer 10km Awareness Walk starts at 1pm on Saturday, in Kensington Gardens, London.

TELLTALE SYMPTOMS

NEARLY 8,000 people are diagnosed with mouth cancer in the UK every year.

Symptoms include:

An ulcer, or white or red patch anywhere in the mouth that does not heal within three weeks

A lump or swelling anywhere in the mouth, jaw or neck that persists for more than three weeks

Difficulty in swallowing, chewing or moving the jaw or tongue

Numbness of the tongue or other area of the mouth

A feeling that something is caught in the throat

A chronic sore throat or hoarseness that lasts more than six weeks

An unexplained loosening of teeth with no dental cause.