‘I’ve been living under a shadow for 13 years’: life with prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. But screening is not universal, and charities are divided over whether it should be extended. What do those living with the disease think?

Almost seven years into his retirement, David Bulteel should be enjoying the fruits of his 40-year career in the City. On paper, he has the lot: a tidy pension, delightful grandkids, a big house in the Buckinghamshire commuter belt. He’s naturally upbeat and driven, which he says was in part a reaction to the trauma of losing his right arm in a motorbike crash at 21. He was so energetic and enthusiastic in the office that his nickname was “Tigger”.

“My philosophy has always been that there’s no such thing as a problem that you can’t solve,” Bulteel, 70, tells me from his home, where he’s wearing two jumpers on one of the coldest days of the winter. “The reality now is that I’ve been living under a shadow for 13 years, which has had a huge impact not just on me but on my whole family.”