Much-loved radio host Mark Allen has finish line in sight in cancer battle

When Mark Allen’s doctor told him he had stage four bowel and lung cancer, he was relieved it wasn’t stage five. Then his doctor broke the news to him: “There is no stage five.” But the much-loved radio host is now on the verge of a miracle.

Mark Allen with wife Tricia, daughter Olivia Allen and son Kelly. Picture: Tony Gough

Former golfer and sport radio host Mark Allen is on the verge of a miracle.

Allen, who, in December was diagnosed with stage four bowel and lung cancer, is set to get an all-clear from doctors following months of chemotherapy and surgeries to remove 25 per cent of his lungs, 70 per cent of his rectum, and 40cm of his bowel.

“I’m the luckiest person I can ever imagine being,” Allen said at his Melbourne home.

“You get to stage four, and I didn’t know at the time … I thought there might be a stage five. My doctor told me: ‘There is no stage five, Mark. But, with a bit of luck, we might be able to cure you.”

Allen, who turned 50 in March, got that good luck early into his cancer journey. The disease had not spread to his lymph nodes, which would have deemed it inoperable.

“Theoretically, there’s no cancer left in my body at the moment,” the popular Macquarie Sports Radio broadcaster said.

“We can almost see the finish line.”

It’s been a difficult, and sometimes dark path, to this point, though. Allen wore a colostomy bag while recovering.

Allen is on the final straight to a full recovery. Picture: Tony Gough

“You find a selfish streak, and think about what’s going to happen to you,” he said of the mental struggle while dealing with cancer.

“I’ve got a family to look after, and you wonder how all that’s going to work.

“In those lonely times, when you’re by yourself, you can get the sads pretty quick. But nice little things happen along the way, a successful surgery, or two weeks after, you can feel yourself getting better, or the doctor saying it’s not in your lymph nodes … that helps.”

He also praised the bedside manner of his doctors, surgeons and specialists.

“They were always matter of fact,” Allen said. “They never mentioned dying.”

Allen, and wife Tricia, told only close family and friends of his health battle. But, under doctor’s orders, they didn’t tell their children Olivia, 12, and Kelly, 10.

In April, when Allen went public about his cancer journey, he says “the outpouring of worry was overwhelming,” adding: “They hear ‘stage four’ and it’s grief. I’m not sure that would have helped me at the start.”

Allen on the golf course. Picture Jay Town.

Tricia, he says, has been “unbelievable … so strong and so calm. She stood up when she needed to.”

Significantly, Allen’s golf mind also showed itself after the diagnosis, and during treatment.

“Golf is a sport where you rarely hit the ball beautifully,” Allen said.

“If you don’t have a bit of arrogance like, ‘Watch me get out of this mess, then I don’t think you’ll go very far.’

“It’s funny,” Allen says, smiling, “but I always figured I’d get out of this mess.”

He added: “I reckon the ‘watch me get out of this’ attitude when I was in the bunkers, or chipping from around the greens, or when I found myself in the trees, was in there.

“I knew I wouldn’t be stuck in the bunker forever.”

With a clear view of the fairway, and the future, Mark Allen feels like he’s flushed his shot at life, and a new chapter. He only has a few rounds of precautionary chemo left.

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He wants to use his broadcasting profile to promote awareness about bowel cancer and getting regular checks.

“You learn from all experiences in life,” he said.

“It’s amazing how many of our listeners have gone through what I have, or are about to. As somebody who’s on the radio, and has a public voice, I plan to be more vocal and getting people to look after themselves.”

Mark Allen has also vowed to take better care of himself, too.

“I was a pretty poor eater,” he said.

“I’ll ease back on that, look after myself, and make my family number one.”

He smiles: “It will be a healthier life.”

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