When Bishop Alan Abernethy first walked the halls of Queen’s University Belfast in the 1970s, he never imagined that decades later, the same institution would help save his life.

In 2018, faced with an advanced cancer diagnosis, Alan was offered a place on a pioneering clinical trial at the Johnston Cancer Research Centre. The trial didn’t just give him hope. It gave him back his future.

As Queen’s marks 180 years of shaping a better world, Alan’s story is a powerful reminder that the University’s greatest impact is often deeply personal. It’s about lives changed, extended and enriched.

Alan's story

Alan was born in City Hospital Belfast and grew up in East Belfast. His childhood was shaped by community, church and the Troubles. He attended Harding Memorial Primary and then Grosvenor High School, where a love of politics began to emerge, one that would later lead him to Queen’s.

He began studying History and Politics at Queen’s in 1975, a time when life in Northern Ireland was often unpredictable and dangerous. “The Troubles were at their height,” he remembers. “I still recall the last buses out of the city, the whistle blowing as they left. If you missed that, walking home wasn’t a safe option.”

Despite the challenges, Queen’s became a place where he thrived. He also formed lasting friendships that shaped his journey, including with fellow student Brendan McAllister. Brendan, from a different tradition and background, became a lifelong friend and a reminder to Alan of the power of relationships that transcend division. These connections at Queen’s deepened his commitment to ministry as a vocation of reconciliation and peacebuilding.

Alan loved his studies, particularly politics, but it was also a place of reflection and calling. It was during these undergraduate years that Alan began to feel drawn toward ordained ministry. After graduating in 1978, he pursued that calling and later returned to Queen’s in 1985 to study theology part-time. He graduated again in 1989 with a Bachelor of Divinity.

Close connections to Queen's

Throughout his ministry, Queen’s remained part of his journey. In 2007, Alan became Bishop of Connor, with Queen’s and its chaplaincies falling within his diocese. He became closely involved in university life, including leading a review of Union Theological College, commissioned by Professor Paddy Johnston. It was a time of reconnection and renewed purpose.

“Queen’s had shaped so much of my life. Coming back in that role felt deeply meaningful,” he says.

But in 2018, Queen’s became something more than meaningful. It became life-saving.

That year, Alan was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. The disease had already spread to his lymph nodes, pelvic bones and ribs. The prognosis was serious. He began treatment at the Cancer Centre in Belfast with six rounds of chemotherapy and twenty sessions of radiotherapy. Partway through this process, his consultant, Professor Joe O’Sullivan, asked to speak with him about joining a clinical trial.

The trial was testing a new approach: more radiotherapy, a series of nuclear injections, and a carefully monitored treatment plan aimed at targeting cancer in the bones. For Alan, there was no hesitation.

“When your back is against the wall, you say yes to anything that gives you hope. I trusted Joe and the team with my life.”

The treatment was intense. Thirty-seven sessions of radiotherapy. Six nuclear injections. Hormone therapy that left him emotionally and physically drained. At one point, Alan describes being “utterly shattered.” But then came the moment that changed everything.

A life-changing moment

“Joe brought us in, showed us the scan. And the cancer was gone. Completely gone. My wife, Liz, who’s a retired medical doctor, asked to see it again because we could hardly believe it.”

Alan has been in remission ever since.

“I said to Joe, we’ve got a bit of a problem here. I’m a man of faith and thousands of people were praying for me. Can I call this a miracle of modern medicine? And he said, I’ll give you that.”

That moment brought not just relief, but a renewed sense of mission. Alan continues to work with Professor O’Sullivan and frequently speaks at Queen’s events to raise awareness around prostate cancer and the importance of clinical trials. He sees his experience not only as a personal turning point, but as part of something bigger.

“The people at Queen’s didn’t just treat the disease. They treated the person. Every nurse, every radiologist, every administrator made me feel seen. They were all pulling together, full of hope and purpose.”

There is a deep sense of gratitude that runs through every part of his story. Gratitude not only for the science, but for the relationships. For Alan, the connections with figures like Professor Paddy Johnston, Professor David Jones and Professor Joe O’Sullivan are more than academic or professional. They are personal. And life-changing.

A powerful example

Alan’s story is a powerful example of what Queen’s has been doing for 180 years, bringing knowledge and compassion together to change lives. The university gave him the academic foundation for a life of ministry. It gave him lasting friendships and opportunities to grow. And, at his most vulnerable, it gave him the treatment that made his future possible.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he says. “But I am. Because of Queen’s.”

As the university celebrates 180 years of impact, stories like Alan’s remind us of what truly matters, not just progress in theory, but progress in practice. Lives made longer. Lives made better. Futures restored.