A former customs officer at Dover has written a 14-chapter light-hearted book about his year with oesophageal cancer.

Paul Quinn, 49, of West Court Lane, Shepherdswell, was diagnosed in July 2013 after doctors found a malignant tumour on his oesophagus.

Writing My Year With Cancer helped Paul get through his recovery and he wants those who read it to get an idea of what it is like to have cancer.

A passage in the book reads: “For the purposes of this book, specifically who I am is irrelevant.

'What I am trying to achieve here is to put down the events of my journey with cancer from diagnosis to present.' - Mr Quinn

“What I am trying to achieve here is to put down the events of my journey with cancer from diagnosis to present in the hope of helping myself move on, and in the great hope that others may be comforted, humoured and understand aspects of this a little better.”

He starts off from his own perspective, where the doctors tell him what they have found.

It then takes a humorous turn as he goes on to describe the comical things going on around him.

“I started writing it because the diagnosis day was quite peculiar,” he said.

“And when I was recovering I thought I’d write that bit down. It took me just under a year to write.”

The book is available to read on the Kindle, priced at £2.33.

But Paul hopes that once it is published, half the proceeds will go to British cancer charities, to be nominated by his readers.

He said that oesophageal cancer has only a 29% survival rate but that “everything must be taken into context” and that figures are affected by people in their 70s who have had a late diagnosis.

Luckily for him, his tumour was caught early and he is getting better.

He said after the diagnosis, one of the first things he saw on the internet while researching oesophageal cancer was a video on YouTube showing a man moaning about the symptoms.

“The cancer is scary enough as it is,” he said. “You don’t want to read a depressing book giving you heartfelt pain and pity.”

He hopes that the small jokes cracked in the book will encourage people to pick it up without expecting to read about the “doom and gloom” of the disease.

To buy the e-book, visit http://tinyurl.com/ps4abe5