Battler Barry isbacking appeal

The 63-year-old ex-Turf Moor chief has revealed he is fighting an advanced form of prostate cancer.

Mr Kilby made the admission almost 12 months after his 13-year reign at the helm of his beloved Burnley when he announced he was stepping down to fight the disease.

The businessman has backed Burnley FC’s bid to donate all matchday lottery draw money from a Clarets game to the appeal for a new £50,000 prostate scanner at Burnley General Hospital which he believes could save hundreds of men’s lives.

Speaking to the Burnley Express, Mr Kilby said: “I have got advanced prostate cancer. It is something I have to live with. I am OK at the moment. I am fine and I am active enough. I am very lucky that things can be done.”

“I got some (cancer) in my pelvic bone that is treatable – it did not reach my soft tissue.

“Now I am keeping a weather eye on it, looking out for PSA levels, having scans every so often to double check the cancer has not landed anywhere else. I have to learn how to manage it. I am on various treatments but things are going OK so far.”

Mr Kilby said he was diagnosed barely 24 hours after watching a TV programme about prostate cancer and recognising he had one of the symptoms described.

Doctors found the cancer had spread beyond his prostate and Mr Kilby stressed the importance of early screening.

He said: “The earlier you can detect these things the more you can do to manage it. The later it gets, it can spread and the cancer can turn up in more serious places.If I had gone to the doctor and got it early it could have been a lot easier for me.”

Now he has joined forces with fellow prostate cancer sufferer and ex-Claret Ian Britton, to help the club raise money for the scanner.

The club will donate all proceeds from their matchday draw at the Sheffield Wednesday game on January 18th to help bring the state-of-the-art 4D scanner to Burnley General Hospital.

Mr Kilby said: “It is extremely important that we get this scanner. There are only three or four in the country and the one at Burnley is nearing the end of its life. Of all the males at a Burnley game, around 1,500 of them will get prostate cancer at some point.With the scanner, men can get diagnosed quickly and help stop this killer disease.”