Meet the radiotherapy team who took on an unusual challenge to raise money for cancer support

Battle Cancer Dublin is a unique fitness challenge that aims to raise funds for a huge variety of cancer charities. Battle Cancer events are held worldwide, and Dublin is one of many places hosting an event this year.

In March, hundreds of teams competed in the ‘hybrid fitness’ event, pushing their bodies and minds to the limit during 90 minutes of intense workouts and teamwork.

But one team competing in the 2026 event had a unique experience of the cause behind Battle Cancer – Grace McKenna, Malcolm Wilkinson, Sarah Kelly and Rory Porteous are all Therapeutic Radiographers at the North West Cancer Centre (NWCC), Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Their route to Battle Cancer spans years and culminated in their remarkable performance on 21 March in Dublin, which saw them finish as the 19th best team out of the 681 teams competing, and raise more than £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Synergy caught up with the team to find out the secret behind their success, and why fitness is so important to radiotherapy.

‘Putting yourself out of your comfort zone’

The NWCC is one of two radiotherapy centres in Northern Ireland. Its catchment area covers half a million people, including patients from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

“We’re a pretty small team and we work well together,” says Malcolm. "We have some advanced practice roles, imaging specialists – and, obviously, radiographers.”

With three linear accelerators and a total of 35 radiography staff in the department, the team works tirelessly to keep up with demand.

The NWCC service first began in 2016, with Rory, Malcolm and Sarah forming part of the initial team crewing the centre before Grace joined in 2022.

Grace

Grace, a research and clinical trials radiographer, has been working in radiotherapy for seven years, after beginning her career in Manchester, working on proton beam therapy.

She tells Synergy she always knew she wanted to do something in healthcare, and input from her sister – a careers teacher – helped her to settle on radiography, and specifically radiotherapy. “I don’t think many people know about radiotherapy unless they’ve been through it, or a relative has,” she says. “Once I read into it, I realised: that’s for me. I love the diagnostic side of things, but radiotherapy has the patient care aspect built in, and you get to build that rapport with them.”

Four years ago, Grace felt the urge to return to Ireland, taking up a role as Therapeutic Radiographer. It wasn’t long before the opportunity arose to get into research and development with a clinical trials role. Given how neatly it coincided with her own studies for a master’s in advanced radiotherapy practice, Grace decided to make the leap.

Rory

Rory, the treatment delivery team lead radiographer, is from a family that has had healthcare ties for generations. He tells Synergy he always knew he’d work in the industry in some shape or form and, when it came time to decide on a university course, he discovered radiotherapy.

Sarah

Sarah’s introduction to the profession came from a family friend who was a Diagnostic Radiographer, but she was eventually drawn to the therapeutic side of the profession, particularly because of the increased focus on patient care.

After qualifying, Sarah worked in Belfast as a team lead radiographer, before returning home for the opening of the NWCC. Sarah has worked at the NWCC for 10 years. Her current role as a clinical software specialist radiographer came from her interest in innovation and service development.

Malcolm

Malcolm says he owes his career in radiography to his sister, a Diagnostic Radiographer. A keenness for patient contact, however, ushered him toward radiotherapy. After graduating from Ulster University in 2002, he worked for 13 years at the radiotherapy department in Belfast. When the NWCC was established, an opportunity emerged for him to become part of the new team. “It was great to set up a department from scratch,” he says.

“I was the third radiographer to be employed here, so we were literally in a portakabin sitting at a desk asking: ‘We have to set up a radiotherapy department – where do we start?’ Everything works really well here, so it was a good opportunity.”

During his time in Belfast, Malcolm first developed his interest in prostate cancer as part of the treatment review team for prostate patients. Over the course of that involvement, this interest grew and, by 2010, Malcolm was involved with the prostate brachytherapy service in Belfast. When he came to the NWCC, it was as a team lead, before becoming treatment review specialist and now consultant.

Bringing it all together

Initially, Rory and Sarah had planned to participate in Battle Cancer in 2021, alongside their brothers. But maternity leave meant Sarah had to postpone her involvement. Finally, the team came together this year to take on the challenge.

The Battle Cancer challenge consists of three zones: the Endurance Zone, with an exercise bike, a rowing machine and a ski machine; the Burn Zone, where participants have to complete synchronised box jump-overs, push-ups and sit-ups; and the Power Zone, which challenges participants to synchronised ‘sandbag squats’, dumbbell ‘devil’s presses’ and deadlifts.

NWCC Radiotherapy Team scorecard

NWCC Radiotherapy Team scorecard

With just five minutes for each station within the three zones, competitors fight to tally up the highest number of reps they can before taking a four-minute break. The victors are decided after tallying the reps they were able to manage for each exercise.

“It appealed to us more than the likes of [fitness competition] Hyrox or a marathon, because we could do it as a team. It was a bit more social,” explains Rory. “I was interested because it has a kind of CrossFit style. We have lots of camaraderie and an interest in sports – and it all came together for Battle Cancer.”

He adds: “Radiotherapy specifically is unique in a team. People who are drawn to radiotherapy have an awful lot in common – that helps in terms of how close-knit we are. The team element of Battle Cancer and putting yourself out of your comfort zone with your work colleagues is really beneficial. I think a lot of workplaces would benefit from it.”

The team’s experience in working together stretches beyond the workplace; Rory and Grace both play Gaelic Athletic Association sports (football and hurling), while Sarah also works as a personal trainer, and used her experience to help the team train for their challenge.

Battle Cancer also has one final twist for competitors: not only did every rep count as a point towards the final tally, but so too did every pound raised for the chosen cancer charities – the ‘10th station’ was for competitive fundraising.

Together, the NWCC team raised £2,259 in total for Macmillan Cancer Support. The funding will go towards a local project in Northern Ireland – specifically a new information and support centre at Antrim Hospital. “We were keen that what we raise stay local within the area,” says Malcolm. “It’s a Macmillan installation for all patients affected by cancer.”

Rory Porteous during the synchronised sit-ups challenge

Malcolm Wilkinson on the rowing machine station

Health and cancer treatment

Physical fitness also forms a key part of the team’s day-to-day roles. The team at NWCC have been running pre-treatment information sessions for prostate and breast cancer patients for the past several years.

These information sessions mostly focus on general exercise advice. But Malcolm and Sarah are soon to embark upon a leadership course, Prostate Cancer UK’s Exercise Oncology Programme, to establish bespoke exercise advice for prostate patients. This programme helps healthcare professionals to integrate exercise oncology into prostate cancer care, teaching leadership and communication skills.

The pair are particularly interested in the potential impact of physical activity on reducing the treatment-related side effects of radiotherapy, and they intend to measure this using the standard toxicity scoring during the radiotherapy pathway.

(L-R) Malcolm Wilkinson, Rory Porteous, Sarah Kelly, Grace McKenna, at the NWCC

(L-R) Malcolm Wilkinson, Rory Porteous, Sarah Kelly, Grace McKenna, at the NWCC

While the programme is still in its early stages, Malcolm expects to introduce patients to an exercise programme at their initial pre-treatment appointments, and then incorporate a review of how they’re keeping up with it each week during treatment and for up to six weeks post treatment.

“There’s quite a lot of scientific evidence to suggest exercise helps with keeping fatigue at bay,” says Grace. “One of the biggest side effects of radiotherapy is fatigue, and other than rest there’s no treatment we exactly give for that. Exercise is the medication and intervention in this case.”

Early evidence suggests exercise before and after radiotherapy may improve patient outcomes by reducing treatment-related side effects which improves quality of life, she says. This includes reducing muscle loss, strengthening cardiovascular and bone health, boosting recovery, supporting mental wellbeing and lowering recurrence risk.

To any radiographers who are thinking of participating in fundraising opportunities, Malcolm has one piece of advice: “Just get involved.”

“We want to be role models for the team here,” he says. “We all know the benefits of exercise and, even for staff who maybe aren’t as involved with sport, we really want to showcase the positive impact it has on our life and work.

“It puts you in a different environment. We really saw the benefit of doing activities like this that you can’t normally do in work, and the benefit it has when you’re working with each other. It’s team building in a different way. It definitely helps us to work together when we’re actually with our patients.”

Find out more about radiotherapy at the SoR

Resources for radiotherapy practice are available on the SoR website, including on patient safety, policy guidance and the opportunity to join the SoR’s Special Interest Group.

Access more resources online here.

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