Man's warning after being diagnosed with 'silent killer' disease on his birthday

A man is urging others to come forward after being diagnosed with a 'silent killer' illness after a routine check-up. Owen McGrath was given the shocking news on his birthday that he had cancer growing in his left lung following a CT scan. It came after the 71-year-old was invited for an appointment to check his lung health.

It is a part of a programme that is being rolled out in parts of Cheshire and Merseyside. More than one million people in England, aged 55 to 74, who smoke or used to smoke have already been invited for a free targeted screening.

Owen is now urging anyone invited to these appointments to "act immediately" as it could save their life. "I'm just so glad I went for the check. I didn't expect the scan to show anything at all, but I later got a call to say they had found something" he told the Liverpool Echo.

READ MORE: 'I'd always been a curvy girl. By the time the truth came out, I'd turned to skin and bone'

"It was a shock, but it meant I was then given more in-depth scans and tests before they confirmed that it was cancer. They told me on my birthday but, to be honest, I was just glad they had caught it.

"The treatment wasn't too bad. When people think about lung cancer, they think it's a death sentence, especially if the cancer is growing like mine was, but that is just not true.

"The treatments they have now mean that you have a chance to get through it. I thought that the treatment itself would be hard on me, but I found it okay and I'm still alive.

"I would say to anyone who is offered a lung health check, just do it. Act on it immediately. You can't ignore a free check-up it could save your life!"

Lung cancer is often referred to as a "silent killer" because it can develop without causing