A man with a passion for livestock has not let cancer get in the way of his early-morning routine tending to animals.
And now Frank Buchan has grown a beard that would be the envy of many a billy goat – so he can shave it to raise money for charity.
Mr Buchan is one of the 24 models selected to take part in the first ever Brave catwalk show in aid of Friends of Anchor.
Brave will be held at the Beach Ballroom on Friday May 5 and is the brother event to the hugely successful Courage on the Catwalk, now in its fifth year.
Mr Buchan was diagnosed with gastric cancer in April 2016.
But despite being unable to eat properly and becoming very weak, the Westhill resident has not stopped “pottering away” with his beloved sheep and goats, which he keeps at a nearby farm.
“I was getting skinnier and skinnier and weaker and weaker,” he said as he continued preparations for the show.
“I couldn’t eat, I would drink a glass of water or a cup of tea eat a biscuit and within 10 minutes it would all come back up again.
“So I went to the doctor and was sent me to hospital straight away.
“I was taken down to the theatre and put a camera down my throat and they found that on my gullet, where it was supposed to be smooth, it was really rough.
“So they knew there was something wrong so they took samples and tested it and they found I had cancerous tumours.”
With Mr Buchan unable to eat normally because of the cancer, he has had to feed himself using a tube into his stomach.
He has been receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy and is now able to start eating some foods such as yoghurts and porridge again and despite the tiring treatment schedule he still gets up at 6am every morning to tend to his flock of sheep and goats.
He added: “I’m still being active, I’m still pottering about with some sheep and goats.
“I’ve got about 60 sheep all together and I’m more or less finished lambing for this year and I keep some goats as well.
“I get up early to tend to them because it’s something I enjoy doing and I’m lucky to still be able to do it.”
Mr Buchan has had positive experiences of Friends of Anchor and despite initially being sceptical about signing up for Brave, he is now very glad he did and also has a fundraiser planned for the charity.
He said: “It was a couple of the nurses who told me about Brave.
“I wasn’t very keen but I didn’t want to let them down and I signed up for it and I’m glad I did because everyone involved with Brave has been in the same boat as we have all experienced the same thing.
“I’ve got a long white beard at the moment and I’m going to get sponsored and after Brave I’m going to shave my beard off and split the money 50/50 between Friends of Anchor and Clan Cancer Support.”
