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Mr MacManus: ‘I’m going to outlive this cancer’ |
Surviving without the ‘high priests of modern voodoo’
Terence MacManus turned down treatment for his cancer and opted for a vegan diet instead
WHEN Terence MacManus sat down with a consultant at the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead 12 years ago, the diagnosis wasn’t good.
A blister-like blemish on his nose was more than a little irritation, it was cancerous and doctors prescribed immediate surgery followed by a course of gruelling radiation treatment.
“It was a bit of a worry,” said Mr MacManus – but instead of heading straight to the operating theatre, he made his excuses and left.
Some will think his decision was foolish, irresponsible even, but the 77-year-old has since 1996 been fighting the condition without any treatment at all.
Despite a serious disfigurement, he refuses to go “under the knife” or accept any pills or radiation therapy.
Instead, he hopes he can beat the condition with a meat-free diet and by keeping his spirits high.
He said: “The doctor said we’ll soon have that off with some radiation. They looked astonished when I said I’d try something else. It’s spread a bit but I don’t think I’d be there if I had the radiation treatment. Doctors always try and tell you that there is no alternative. I remember they looked completely astonished when I walked out of there. I will prove them wrong and it looks like I am going to outlive this cancer. I really think that my vegan diet has seen me though.”
A vegan diet involves eating nothing which has been derived from animal – and is stricter than vegetarianism. He said: “It is the clearest diet. Meat clogs up the system but vegan have an unadulterated diet.”
The Vegan Society celebrates the healthy benefits of a vegan diet, although a spokesman had a word of caution for anyone trying to beat a deadly disease through veganism alone.
A spokesman said: “Please note that The Vegan Society does not advise people to stop taking prescribed medication for vegan reasons. Always seek qualified medical advice about medication. Please contact the Vegan Society (0121 523 1735/6; email: info@vegansociety.com) if you have general questions about vegans and medication.”
Since his partner died in 1983 from the drugs she was taking to combat her skin cancer, Mr MacManus, who lives in Priory Road, West Hampstead, has refused to accept any doctors’ advice.
He may seem like an eccentric to medics but he has a deep-seated distrust of all modern medicine, which he believes is produced by pharmaceutical companies wrongly tested on animals. His campaign against vivisection has been a lifelong vocation.
He said: “Modern medicine is a religion and the consultants are the high priests. People are frightened when they get ill – and they have faith in their doctor. It is 21st-century voodoo. I do not think that young people should be vaccinated in the way that they are – especially at an early age. I am sure it is all these extra jabs that is leading to all this anger with young people in our society. Their diet too – all those legal chemicals in the junk food. No wonder we have a society like we do.”
After leaving school aged 14, Mr MacManus took a job as a telegram delivery boy and has since worked in a series of “disgusting employments” including laying the M1 motorway in 1958. He has defined his life through a series of protests as part of the campaign for anti-vivisection since the early 1970s.
Mr MacManus said: “I always thought animals got a rough deal. It was only the other day that I was driving to Devon when I saw a truck with animals packed in. There was filth oozing out the back. I was sitting behind it in traffic, sitting there in relative comfort – we were all sitting there in relative comfort. I thought this is not right for the 21st century.” |
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Your comments:
I APPLAUD terence' taking responsibility for his own health. A vegan, I modified my diet to cope with rheumatoid arthritis, refusing methotrexate, a dated chemotherapy treatment. I am doing well, don't trust the doctors, take your health seriously and change your life if necessary.
A Wright
I was really uplifted by this story having lost so many friends and relatives to cancer where the patient was killed not by the disease but by the treatment - today's medicine is still a combination of the unholy trinity of "slash - poison - burn" surgery - chemo - radiotherapy
It's all black magic. I would never submit to chemo or radio.
C. Yoe
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