Stowmarket man talks of fight with cancer and sells signed copies of his book at town’s Tesco Superstore in Cedars Link Road

A book by a Suffolk man who survived cancer twice has been promoted at a shop event.

Jake Andrade, of Combs in Stowmarket, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) at the age of 13 in 2016 – and the cancer returned after a five-year remission period.

His book, My Leukaemia Fight, recounts his six-year cancer story – and has been promoted at an event by the Tesco Superstore in Cedars Link Road, Stowmarket, where Jake’s uncle works.

Nelson Andrade, Jake's father, said: "We want to say a big thank you to everyone at Tesco for helping host the book event. We really appreciate the support you have given us over the years and the recent publicity you gave our family.”

The event, in which Jake spoke about his experiences, and joined his family and Tesco staff to sell signed copies of his book, led to 15 books being sold and many more enquiries from potential buyers. The charity Young Lives vs Cancer also gained £220 from the event, as a collection bucket was in place for donations.

Jake’s uncle, John Kerridge, works at the shop and told manager Andrew Doherty and team manager Mark Spearmen that they feature in the book – after they shaved their heads in 2016 during a similar store event. This led them to support the event.

Andrew said: "We first learned about Jake's heroic journey after his friends tried raising money in another store, but unfortunately that event had to be cancelled.

"Jake's friends organised a sponsored head shave in support of Jake. Mark and I ended up joining in and shaving our heads, too.

"The event went really well, and we look forward to supporting Jake and his family long into the future."

Jake began writing his book as a journal in his first few days of treatment. The publishing process began in October 2021 to celebrate his five years in remission, but this was put on hold in December 2021 when his leukaemia unexpectedly relapsed.

He wrote more chapters about his second journey with AML and the book was eventually published in February 2023.

Glasswells in Bury St Edmunds St Edmunds, where Jake worked before his cancer treatment and returned to work after, previously held an event for the Teenage Cancer Trust in support of their colleague.

To learn more about Jake's book visit this website.

AML is a rare form of blood cancer that impacts around 3,100 people are diagnosed with AML in the UK every year, 40 percent of which are over 75 – according to Cancer Research.