Cancer survivor: My pie shop saved my life

A pie shop boss says his business and love of the meat-filled delicacy helped him beat cancer.

Less than a year ago, Oliver Doyle was in intensive care after surgery to remove a rare tumour. His partner, Lindsay Meckie, was warned to prepare for the worst.

Today, they are getting ready to open their third branch of award-winning pie shop, a business they credit with saving his life.

The couple founded their shop in Stockport in 2011 before launching a second site in Macclesfield, which they liked so much they moved to live there too.

With the move came a change of doctor for Oliver, who had been suffering from hypertension - a condition his previous GP had shrugged off, linking it to his lifestyle as a chef.

“The very first appointment I had he said: ‘I’ve looked at your notes and your story and there’s something really wrong here’,” said Oliver.

The next day he went for an ultrasound scan and was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a rare cancer of the adrenal gland tissue.

“They said it was the biggest one they’d ever seen. They think it had been there for about five years,” he said.

“It was obviously very traumatic and the survival rates were really slim, so it was pretty bad.”

Surgery was carried out to remove the tumour - a risky procedure with complications that resulted in the loss of a kidney too. Oliver also had to have a blood transfusion and was in intensive care in an induced coma afterwards.

Throughout his recovery, Lindsay was juggling being by his bedside with keeping the business running. They didn’t close up shop for a single day.

“Even before the surgery, a few days off was a big deal,” she said.

“We had to completely adapt the business to cope without him.”

Oliver added: “For her to be told prepare yourself for the worst because he might not make it and then deal with this, it was incredible.

“I don’t know how she did it to be honest.”

Oliver was back to work after just two months off, despite doctors warning him he might not be able to return to such a physical job.

But defying expectations is something the couple have been doing since day one.

Now Oliver and Lindsay are looking forward to the future, including the opening of their new Chorlton site on Barlow Moor Road.