Wanted: cancer patients for uplifting calendar

A PROFESSIONAL photographer based in Limassol is looking for cancer patients and survivors to take the lead roles in a fundraising calendar.

Kevin Jones, 53, has lived in Cyprus for 12 years. His wife Maria, 44, was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“When my wife’s diagnosis was given, it was devastating. It’s rare to have this type of cancer so young, but we are hopeful that it was treated in time,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

The photographer’s wife is receiving her last bout of chemotherapy in Limassol this week.

“Our experience gave me the idea to do something positive about the disease to show that a cancer diagnosis doesn’t mean that everything has to stop and that patients shouldn’t get depressed and give up hope.”

Along with a professional hair stylist, a make-up artist and set designer, Jones is hoping to produce a high quality calendar, of which all the proceeds will go to local cancer charities.

“We’ve found the treatment here to be very good and the care excellent. Not for one moment have we thought about going back to the UK,” he said.

The aim of the calendar is to encourage people to have a positive outlook when they are given a cancer diagnosis.

“It’s to show what people have gone through, to encourage others and also to show they don’t have to give up hope.”

The calendar is already being shot and Jones is looking for a couple more men and women to fill the starring roles.

The calendar is based on Hollywood movies and depicts scenes from famous films.

“We are using the models to create iconic movie images, so that the instant you see the picture you would understand what the movie is.”

The calendar will be widely available across the island from the middle of October, and will be exhibited at the beginning of December at an event sponsored by Columbia shipping.

n For further information call Kevin Jones on: 99 631 649

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.