'My shooting pains turned out to be serious - never ignore these signs'

A man whose shooting pains turned out to be testicular cancer has revealed the moment he was given the devastating news.

James Whyte, from Wigan, first knew something was wrong when he noticed he had swelling back in March 2020.

The 33-year-old decided to visit his doctor who referred him for further scans. Sadly, James was diagnosed with testicular cancer a few days later. The uncommon type of cancer affects around 2,300 men in the UK every year.

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James, who works as a sales account manager, was sent for an operation the following day to remove the cancerous tumour. “It was obviously a huge shock to me and didn’t quite sink in,” he told the Manchester Evening News.

“It was visible swelling and very much happened overnight hence why it was such a whirlwind.”

James was given the all-clear following his procedure but had to attend regular check-ups to ensure the cancer had not returned.

“Life changed drastically,” he added. “It was the start of Covid; everyone was listening to Boris every day and I had these appointments. I had to go to them alone due to the pandemic which was tough.”

Six months on from being given the all-clear, just before Christmas 2020, James began experiencing shooting pains in his stomach.

Sadly, following an appointment with a consultant at The Christie Hospital, James was told his cancer had returned – and this time it had spread to his stomach.

“I was gutted it had returned,” he said. “It spoiled Christmas for sure. “I felt like I’d failed my remission and was put into panic as this time round it meant chemotherapy. It sounded a lot more serious than an operation.”

James underwent nine weeks of chemotherapy