Bromborough beat bobby who lost leg to cancer is set to retire

Dec 30 2009 by Matt Hurst, Heswall News

A BROMBOROUGH beat bobby, who continued to walk his patch despite losing a leg to an aggressive form of cancer, will retire in the New Year.

Merseyside Police’s Sergeant Mark Whale was in his mid-40s when he was struck down by osteo sarcoma, and faced with a harrowing – but ultimately life-saving – decision to have his leg amputated.

Sgt Whale said: “I was on patrol one evening in February 1998 by the Ritzy nightclub, which used to have a lot of disorder.

“An incident broke out and as I went to deal with it, I tripped over a cable and twisted my ankle.

“I dealt with the incident and the next day I had an x-ray which revealed a shadow on my lower tibia.

“If that hadn’t happened the cancer wouldn’t have come to light and it wouldn’t have taken long to get into my bloodstream, which would have been fatal.”

With little option, Sgt Whale had his lower leg amputated and underwent chemotherapy to battle the disease.

He was supplied with a dynamic carbon fibre prosthetic leg by the North West Police benevolent fund and, just nine months after his operation, Sgt Whale was back at Bromborough Police Station.

But he refused a desk job and was determined to get back to what he loved – pounding the streets.

The 55-year-old said: “I had to re-train in everything again, from self-defence to driving police response cars.

“I set myself targets and that helped me to get on with it.

“Hopefully I am an example of what can be done with determination, and this can encourage other people in a similar situation to take action against, what is otherwise, a fatal cancer.”

Reflecting on his 30 years of service, Sgt Whale said: “I will really miss the basic bobbying – I like being out on the streets meeting people – and will miss my colleagues.

“I am now looking forward to doing some gardening and going scuba diving, fishing and swimming.”