AUTHOR and publisher Philip Porter is used to problems and challenges but he loves finding answers and solutions – it’s just a normal part of life for him.

And when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, it was no different. He took it in his stride, without drama, and got on with what needed to be done to treat it and recover.

Considering his love for high-flying adventures – he was competing in motorsport while he was still at school and has flown hot air balloons and airships, he has his feet firmly planted on the ground.

Philip, aged 67, from Knighton-on-Teme, near Tenbury Wells, arranged to have surgery to remove his prostate gland and was back home recovering a day later.

He even wanted to drive himself home from hospital but his wife wouldn’t let him. He felt fine and said he fully recovered in a very short time.

“A lot of people I know have had quite a bad time afterwards. I made a very fast recovery,” he said. “This was my problem and challenge and I knew there would be a solution. I like to think that I have a positive outlook on life.”

He also puts some of that rapid recovery down to early diagnosis and to his core good health and general fitness. Philip didn’t require any further treatment. He also acknowledged that he wife was very supportive.

Shortly after his cancer scare three years ago, he decided he wanted to do something to raise awareness of the condition and encourage other men to seek medical checks before it is too late.

The writer and publisher of motoring books is a classic car enthusiast and runs the Jaguar E-type and Jaguar XK Clubs with his wife Julie. He came up with the idea of staging a Round Britain Coastal Drive for E-type and XK owners to raise awareness of the illness and funds for the Prostate Cancer UK charity.

He said: “I did not have any symptoms with the prostate cancer but, because of my age and after talking to a friend, I had some tests.

“The initial test – a blood test – did not indicate anything but it was borderline. But the test is notoriously unreliable. The follow-up tests were far more conclusive.”

The surgeon said Philip had a choice to make – he could do nothing but the surgeon described the cancer as a “time bomb” waiting to happen. The surgeon’s advice was to get on with having an operation.

Philip caught his cancer early and it was not very aggressive but the danger of not taking any action is that it could spread - and spread to other parts of the body. “That is the really terrifying thing,” he said.

“When I first started getting involved with Prostate Cancer UK three years ago, the charity said a man dies every hour from the condition – now it is every 45 minutes and it is not necessarily related to age. One man I know was in his 50s when it was diagnosed.

“The big problem is getting men to go for the tests. The tests can be invasive and very personal and some of the tests are not pleasant but that is small beer. If the alternative is death, then there is no contest. You might as well get on with it.

“These are little hurdles to get over and at the end of the day it is not massive. I tell people to get tested and I have to be insistent. People will put it off. But after they have a test they come back and thank me for pushing them,” said Philip.

“It is not something to be feared. Men should get on with it and sort it. Get yourself checked out.”

The aim of the coastal drive is to get the message out to a wider audience and raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. The first year – 2016 - was for E-types and their owners – 200 took part and raised £64,000. The following year was for Jaguar XK cars and their owners and raised more than £70,000.

Philip added: “The charity usually provide volunteers to meet us at the end of each day of the coastal drive and sometimes they are people with prostate cancer who have very little time left to live. It is very sobering. It makes you feel how lucky you are and underlines the importance of getting checked early.”

The 2018 Round Britain Coastal Drive is for E-types and their owners this year. It starts on Monday September 17 at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, where Malcolm Campbell set the world speed record in 1924 on the seven-mile beach. Further record-breaking runs were made there between 1924 and 1927. The 3,400-mile coastal drive will end in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on Friday October 5.

The drive consists of 19 individual stages each about 180 miles long and drivers can complete the entire route or just join in for parts of the drive.

Philip said: “When we first created the Round Britain Coastal Drive in 2016, with the aims of giving E-type Club owners all over the country a sociable driving event at the same time as raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK, it was intended to be a one-off.

“But the event proved so enjoyable and so popular that we are staging it for a third time. Thanks to the magnificent generosity of coastal drive participants and their friends, we have already raised more than £130,000 for Prostate Cancer UK and look forward to increasing that sum this year.”

Philip said there is a great camaraderie among the drivers and the event is an excellent way to see the country. “It is wonderful scenery. We had a plastic surgeon from the US who shipped his car over for it and he is doing it again.

“We have a great time driving our cars and we believe in using them. It is nice to share them by driving them around and there is lots of good will from everyone.”

Philip praised the charity and everyone involved in organising the event, which he stressed is a team effort.

He added that Prostate Cancer UK aims to find a more accurate test and find a cure in years to come. “They reckon they will crack it within 10 years and find a cure. The first thing is to find a reliable test and the other thing is a cure. There is a realistic expectation that they will do it.”

The charity’s chief executive Angela Culhane said: “We haven’t yet seen the big game-changing advances that breast cancer has had in terms of screening and precision medicine developments. We need to bust the myth that this is just an old man’s disease that isn’t significant.”

For more information about Prostate Cancer UK visit https://prostatecanceruk.org/ and for more information about this year’s coast drive visit http://www.roundbritaincoastaldrive.co.uk/e-type-club-round-britain-coastal-drive.html

Visit https://www.e-typeclub.com/ for details of the Jaguar E-type Club and http://xkclub.com/wp555xx/ for details of the Jaguar XK Club

• New figures reveal that prostate cancer has now overtaken breast cancer to become the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Prostate Cancer UK estimates that £120 million is needed for research over the next eight years to halve the number of prostate cancer deaths expected by 2026.