St Neots man volunteers for charity vasectomy

THE mere thought of this operation can reduce grown men to tears.

You know the one ... it involves a man’s most delicate parts and a bit of removing, cutting, burning, sticking and sewing to produce an end result of ... not being able to produce an end result.

Delicately referred to as ‘the snip’, a vasectomy – at least for most men – is no laughing matter.

But despite the eye-watering discomfort of this procedure, Sean Woodward, a St Neots father-of-two, is using his 25-minute vasectomy to raise money for charity.

The 42-year-old, who said he had been badgered by wife Angela for the past four years to go under the knife, decided that if he had to do it then at least someone (apart from his wife) should benefit.

Moved by the plight of two work colleagues who were recently diagnosed with cancer, the businessman, who owns Tackwood MOT and Service Centre, decided on Cancer Research as the beneficiary of his ordeal.

Mr Woodward, of Osier Way, Eaton Ford, told The Hunts Post: “My wife had been on at me to have it done since my son Oliver was two or three – he’s now seven – but it was something I was scared of and always put off.”

But put a little liquid bravery in a man and anything can happen.

“I was at the Hyde Park pub in St Neots one night with some friends, and Angela got talking to Allison, the landlady. They came up with the idea of doing it for charity and clearly I’d had a few beers so I agreed.

“I decided to do a pool-athon where people can come and pay play me at pool for 30 minutes at a time and once I reached �1,000 I would go and get the snip.”

News of the charity challenge quickly spread among the punters and the pledges soon started rolling in.

Mr Woodward said he had not expected the fundraising to go quite so well, and had to go to the doctor to prepare for the procedure.

“When I was initially thinking of having this done a few years ago, I decided I wouldn’t tell anyone,” he added. “I didn’t like the thought of everyone knowing and my mates winding me up. But this has ended up as probably the most public vasectomy ever.”

Mr Woodward added that his wife was “overjoyed” at the prospect.

“She’s delighted,” he said. “She’s been nagging me for years to do it, and I’ve always made excuses.”

INFORMATION: The pool-athon takes place at the Hyde Park pub, St Neots, on Sunday, November 4 between 11am and 11pm. A minimum donation of �5 will secure a 30-minute slot to play against Mr Woodward, who will match every �5 donation. For details contact Allison McColl on 01480 241635.