Received an incredibly important message from Matthew this morning and he's happy for me to share.
"Hi Rex, hope you are well and getting out on the bike in this nice weather. I’ve got a little story to share with you as a thank you to you and the people that organise the #DGR in our little part of the world.
I’ll start off the story by telling you that one of the loves of my life is my 1971 Honda CB750. It’s in original condition and I have owned it for about six or seven years. In September last year I finally decided to spend the money on some private numberplates, I was very lucky that CBK one was available and spent the $550. When the plates arrived I mounted them onto the bike & I was so happy with the way it made the bike look that I was keen to get the bike out and show it off. I looked online to see when the next group motorbike ride was, I was not part of your Perth Cafe Racers group at that stage. The next ride was only a week away and it was the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Perth. I quickly went about learning what it was raising money for and started to gather as much fundraising as I could. So much to say my fiancé and I had a fantastic day and it was great to listen to the stories of prostate cancer and how people have been affected.
Early January this year I started getting some migraine headaches which prompted me to go and have some blood tests and an MRI. Strangely the blood tests and the MRI were all clear and the headaches disappeared and I haven’t had one since. With the DGR ride in back of mind my partner suggested that I have my PSA levels checked while having the blood test. She had been suggesting this since September last year but in typical male style, “Ill get to it later”.Turns out my PSA levels were through the roof, I was re-tested again three weeks later to see if there was any change only to find that the levels had increased further. I was quickly referred to a urologist in Perth, Who sent me for an MRI which happened to be on my birthday. They got the results back to me quickly before the Easter weekend and the MRI was all clear.
Speaking with the urologist he said that there is a small chance that the MRI is not 100% accurate and would like to do a biopsy. I went in for surgery last Tuesday to have the biopsy, and it was a stressful week waiting for the results. I was at expecting a phone call at 3:30pm Tuesday and was as nervous as hell. Unfortunately the voice on the phone gave me the results that I didn’t want to hear.
So at 41 years old, I now have Prostate cancer. My family have a very strong history of cancer. My mum beat breast cancer when I was 18, and my sister had breast cancer six years ago at 32 years old. My grandad passed away with prostate cancer at a ripe old age.
To cut a long story short, my love of old motorcycles has saved my life with early detection. If not for your efforts each year on the DGR, I would probably not had found this and I thank you so very much.
It’s a long road in front of me but I am surrounded by a wonderful support network and my amazing fiancée.
Cheers Matt Richards". (at Perth, Western Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_oag16hq-8/?igshid=maplwwqawz9f