Cancer survivors Keith Armstrong and Jessica Mennell participate as crew on the Solent Hero in a sailing trip arranged by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust RICHARD POHLE/THE TIMESOn the bus out to the Solent, the young cancer patients sit in the shy silence they have perfected in hospital waiting rooms. But the effect of four days at sea is dramatic. “When you’re returning home, those young people never stop talking,” says Dave Hobin, a consultant in paediatric oncology at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and volunteer with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. If I knew what the secret was I would bottle it. The boost that the young people get is phenomenal.”For Dr Hobin, sailing trips with the charity provide an answer to the question that still confronts doctors in spite of their increasing success in treating childhood disease: how can they help young people…

Source: The Times January 03, 2018 00:11 UTC