Man, 27, almost ignored 'skin tag' - he was shocked to find out it was a deadly cancer

A man has shared how he almost ignored a skin tag - before the shock discovery that it was melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Andy Mount was just 27-years-old when he was diagnosed and is warning people to stay safe as a heatwave is set to take over this month.

Andy, now 39, thought he had a skin tag on his leg before it suddenly began to bleed. More than 11 years since his first diagnosis, the father of two says there’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t feel lucky to be alive.

The Rochdale man said: “Being diagnosed with stage three melanoma at 27 was a huge shock to me. I am fair skinned, but I didn’t really consider the added risk and I must admit I wasn’t overly careful in the sun and I had used sunbeds since I was a teenager.”

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Andy, who lives in Shawclough with his family, first noticed what he thought was a skin tag on the back of his leg during a holiday in Egypt with his wife Kathryn in September 2010, but thought little of it at the time. It wasn’t until the following April when it started to bleed, after he caught it while getting dressed, that he decided to go to the doctors to get it checked.

He was referred to a skin specialist at The Christie in Manchester, where the growth was removed and found to be cancerous. He then underwent further surgery to remove a wider area of skin as well as his lymph nodes.

In 2014 a routine check-up led to another melanoma diagnosis. This time it was a mole on his stomach that was found to be cancerous, it was again removed, as well as a wider area of skin around it. Andy has more than 100 moles on his body,