A CANCER survivor says handwritten letters sent to him by a woman he met on a yoga trip to India changed his life.

Brian Greenley met Alison Hitchcock in India eight years ago and later confided his diagnosis in her, despite only meeting her occasionally for a drink when they returned to England.

“I still have no real reason why I went on that trip to Goa,” he said. “It was just on a whim, really, and something I wanted to do.”

The 59-year-old ex-tax consultant, who lives in Sunningdale, thought his brief encounter with Alison, a 48-year-old author from west London, was a holiday friendship that would come to nothing, but they kept in touch and met up occasionally.

And shortly after his stage two bowel cancer diagnosis in 2009, he was due to meet her for a drink and unsure if he was going to tell her the terrifying thoughts swirling round his mind.

“But I told her,” he said. “And she readily admits that she didn’t get a stab to the stomach like someone close to you telling you the news.

“But she made this offer which was a bit odd and a bit random. She said she was going to write letters to me to cheer me up while I was having my treatment.

“I never thought much more about it and two weeks later I got a letter which came through the post that was handwritten. It was so funny and witty and it really lifted me.”

The letters continued to arrive to Brian’s Chobham Road home as his condition moved from stage three to stage four. He got the all clear briefly but his tumour spread.

“The letters were a connection to the outside world,” said Brian. “Not sympathetic or empathetic about my cancer, they were about her, which was great as it was a connection to a life I used to have.

“When you have cancer treatment you are in a bubble of appointments, treatments, blood tests, being sick, nauseous and not eating properly.”

Four-and-a-half years later Brian received the all-clear. The friends’ story attracted the attention of the BBC, who broadcasted it on Radio 4’s Listening Project on Christmas Day.

In October 2016 they set up From Me To You, a not-for-profit campaign teaching, inspiring and encouraging others to write to those suffering with cancer.

Now the pair want to spread the message as far and wide as possible, offering workshops and speaking at events.

Brian said: “For me, it made me realise that it’s not just our story, there are lots of stories out there and people should write to their friends because they just appreciate it. It makes a difference.”