Worcester Man Beats Cancer Twice, Heart Attack, Loses 200 Pounds

A Worcester supermarket manager who survived cancer twice and a heart attack just opened his city's first Cancer Research UK superstore after losing over 200 pounds and finding his passion for running.

Sheldon Donovan was just 25 in 2016 when doctors diagnosed him with Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, after three months of unexplained coughing. He actually felt relieved to finally have answers and a treatment plan.

But his journey was far from straightforward. The cancer had already spread to his lung, spleen, and spine, requiring six months of chemotherapy that seemed to work until Christmas Eve 2019 when it returned.

Three months later, the cancer came back again. Donovan needed a stem cell transplant from a German donor, followed by more chemotherapy and radiotherapy before finally getting his transplant in October 2020.

Then in June 2021, the tiredness and coughing returned. While being admitted to the hospital for tests, Donovan suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma for seven weeks, waking up in intensive care with a tracheotomy surrounded by COVID patients and nurses in hazmat suits.

Because he'd been bedridden for so long, he had to learn to walk all over again. At his heaviest, Donovan had weighed more than 32 stone (over 450 pounds) and described himself as a "yo-yo dieter" who struggled with weight his whole life.

But something changed after his heart attack. "After getting a second, third and then fourth chance at life, something clicked and I was determined to keep on losing the weight," Donovan said.

He lost half his body weight and took up running. By 2022, he finally received the all-clear from his doctors, who told him they were "over the moon" with his progress.

Sunny's Take

What makes Sheldon's story so powerful isn't just surviving impossible odds. It's what he chose to do with his fourth chance. Instead of playing it safe, he pushed himself to become healthier than he'd ever been, transforming from someone who could barely walk into an avid runner.

Now he's paying it forward. On Tuesday, Donovan opened Worcestershire's first Cancer Research UK superstore at Malvern Shopping Park, channeling his gratitude into action that will fund research for future patients.

"I'm very excited and so proud to support research that will help give other people like me a future," he said, standing in the new store nearly a decade after his original diagnosis.

Sheldon Donovan is living proof that it's never too late for a comeback.