JUST DAYS AFTER A MAJOR OPERATION AS PART OF HIS LATEST CANCER BATTLE, BLACKPOOL LEGEND JOE LONGTHORNE SPEAKS TO THE GAZETTE AND SAYS HE’S “BACK AT HOME AND BACK IN BUSINESS”

Had the interview with Joe Longthorne been by phone it might have been easy to overlook that the singer had had a massive 12-hour operation on his throat just 10 days ago.

The veteran crooner is an entertainer to the core though, not letting yet another battle with cancer slow him down- instead showing off his surgery scars as well as his beautiful garden, shooing away free roaming chickens and petting Labrador Kennedy back at his home.

The 58 year old returned to his ‘oasis’ in Leyton this weekend 2 days earlier than medics had predicted, to recover from the surgery to remove a tumour from his mouth. He was surrounded there by his friends, family and animals, and not too far away from his piano.

His throat bears a more than 4 inch scar and 37 stitches and his cheek and chin are still swollen.

RECOVERY

On his left leg is a large plaster padding and his wrist and forearm are tightly bandaged, another long scar with dozens of stitches.
But his smile is warm, his eyes are bright and, perhaps most crucially, his voice is still very much intact. “It’s wonderful to be back home” he said. “I feel it’s a triumph. I’m ahead of time in my recovery, that’s what the surgeons have helped me to achieve.”

Joe underwent the 12 and a half hour surgery at the Royal Preston Hospital on July 2, under the watchful eye of medics Mr Aktar, Mr Joy and Dr Raj- a team he says he can’t thank enough.
Surgeons removed the tumour and tissue from the right side of his mouth and throat, before skin grafts from his forearm were taken to fix up his mouth and a skin graft from his thigh neatened his arm.“They’re not scars, they are works of art” he insists.

The singer who underwent surgery for a bone marrow transplant in 2006 while battling leukaemia describes going into an operating theatre as much the same as going into a musical theatre – tinged with nerves but with a quiet confidence in the abilities of professionals.
“Those medics are lifesavers” he said. ”When I came to, I thought ’I have a chance’, Jesus Christ has given me this chance so I need to get well again quickly to help others.”

His dreams of having his own charity have now been realised as the Joseph Patrick Longthorne Foundation was approved last week and premises are now being finalised for a charity shop.
“Being able to do charity work is wonderful, it has helped my recovery already” he added. “The foundation will help various causes but all local. That’s my motivation for recovery now.”
“Dare I say it, I’m lucky to have gone through this; I’ve learned something and that has helped me.”

And he already has plans to get back on stage, hoping to join pal Darren Day for That’s What Friends Are For at Viva Cabaret Bar Blackpool later this month.

Darren stepped in to fill slots Joe had earlier agreed to do at the Church Street venue when the surgery threatened to keep him off the mic for months.

“It’s a triumph to be able to go back to do a show that a few weeks ago I didn’t think I’d be able to do” he said. “I thought I’d just be directing but now it looks like I’ll be able to sing too. I won’t exactly be doing Shirley Bassey but I’ll be singing and that’s the best therapy for me”.

Darren Day launches That’s What Friends Are For at Viva Cabaret Bar on Church Street from Sunday 27 July continuing weekly. Joe endeavours to be at every show.

Feature by Katie Upton, Blackpool Gazette.