“I lost my brilliant dad Nick to prostate cancer two years ago. He was just 59.” That is how England forward Ella Toone introduced herself as Prostate Cancer UK’s newest ambassador, in a statement issued during Men’s Health Week.
Nick Toone was diagnosed the day after he watched his daughter score in the Euro 2022 final, a 2-1 England win over Germany at Wembley. He died in 2024, three days before turning 60.
Toone, a Manchester United player with an MBE, said her father gave her “my love of the game” and called him “the reason I am a Lioness.” She is joined by Alex Matthews, the Red Roses player who won the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Matthews’s father Dave was first diagnosed ten years ago, was given the all clear, and saw the cancer return in 2023. “This time it isn’t curable,” she said. He is still in treatment, and she said it “meant everything” that he was well enough to watch her captain the Red Roses last year.
What the charity says
The charity says prostate cancer is now the UK’s most common cancer and that far too many men are diagnosed late, after it has already spread and become harder to treat. Its figures put the risk at one man in eight and the toll at one death every 45 minutes. Toone said almost three quarters of a million men will be living with the disease or its impact over the next ten years.
Toone said the charity is funding work on diagnosis and treatment that could make screening a reality and leave men with fewer side effects. Matthews said it is also “transforming the future of prostate cancer care.”
De Biase, the charity’s fundraising and strategy director, said the two athletes would help reach “even more men and loved ones when it matters most.”
Both women will appear on the Piccadilly Lights in London on Sunday 21 June, at 12pm and 6.30pm, in an on-screen tribute to “epic dads” for Father’s Day.
Sources
- Ella Toone becomes Prostate Cancer UK ambassador after losing ‘hero’ father – AOL
- Ella Toone MBE and Alex Matthews join as our newest charity ambassadors
