A 27-year-old man who was shockingly diagnosed with testicular cancer has thanked an unfortunate tackle during a football match for saving his life.
Liam Landers, from Chelmsford in Essex, had no idea he was ill until an on-field collision last April saw him accidentally hit in the crotch by an opposition player’s hand.
After momentarily sinking to his knees in pain, Landers finished the game, but as the day progressed, his right testicle remained sore and began to swell.
It was only when it tripled in size and felt solid to the touch days later that he visited his GP, who referred him for further scans.
Liam Landers, from Chelmsford in Essex, had no idea he was ill until he was accidentally hit in the crotch by an opposition player’s hand during an on-field collision last April.
TO The urologist confirmed that the mass was likely cancerous and would require surgery to remove the testicle, as well as gruelling chemotherapy.
Now the stockbroker is urging men to get checked as the condition can often present no symptoms.
Recalling his ordeal, Mr Landers, who plays for Old Chelmsfordians, said: “Ball hits saved my life.
‘The urologist said there can be no symptoms (testicular cancer), so the blow to the groin made me relive something I didn’t know.
“If I hadn’t had that incident in football, I would probably be dead now, in a hospice or really fighting for my life.”
He added: ‘We were both going to head a corner and then we collided, the other player’s hand accidentally hit me in the testicles.
‘That (the blow there) hurt. Normally it would go away after a few minutes, but this was prolonged. I was unconscious for a second and then I felt better.
‘Later that day I noticed my right testicle was very sore and swollen, but I thought it was just from the collision.
‘As the days went by it didn’t get any better and the testicle tripled in size. One day I was checking it and almost instantly it went rock hard in my hand, it was like a rock.
After briefly falling to his knees in pain, the 27-year-old finished the match, but as the day progressed, his right testicle remained sore and began to swell. It was only after the striker claimed it had tripled in size and felt solid to the touch days later that he visited his GP, who referred him for further scans.
“It was the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced. It was like an out-of-body experience.”
Mr Landers visited his NHS GP twice in a fortnight concerned about the swelling.
After the second appointment, he was referred for blood tests, CT scans, ultrasounds and PET scans, which eventually detected the tumor.
Doctors told him he needed to have his testicle removed.
He underwent surgery in May. “It was a scary and overwhelming moment. I cried afterwards,” she said.
“It all happened in two or three weeks: from not knowing anything to when he disappeared and began to recover.”
Around 2,500 men a year in the UK and 10,000 in the US are diagnosed with testicular cancer, many of them in their 20s and 30s.
Although about 90 per cent of the population survives at least ten years if detected early, it can spread to other areas of the lower body if diagnosed too late, claiming the life of around one man a week in Britain.
In the early stages, testicular cancer may appear as a hard lump or swelling in a testicle.
The lump is usually not painful and can vary considerably in size, but is typically about the size of a pea and located on the front or side of the testicle.
But not all men with testicular cancer will have a lump in their testicles.
He was stunned when a urologist confirmed the mass was likely cancerous and would require surgery to remove the testicle, as well as gruelling chemotherapy.
Mr Landers visited his NHS GP twice in a fortnight concerned about the swelling. After the second appointment he was advised to have blood tests, CT scans, ultrasounds and PET scans, which eventually detected the tumour.
Other signs may include pain in the testicle or scrotum and a feeling of heaviness, firmness or hardness in the scrotum, the NHS says.
Two months later, in August, Mr. Landers underwent an intense three-week course of chemotherapy to “kill” any remaining cancer cells.
She said: ‘It wasn’t very pleasant, but the nurses and oncologist were lovely.
“The first day of chemotherapy I was in the hospital for eight hours. It’s like you’re on your deathbed and an hour or two later you just feel tired.
“It was like a wave from hell and then two hours later you felt fine.”
Now, a year later, he wants to share his story to encourage men to regularly check their genitals for signs that something might be wrong.
He added: ‘I didn’t know anything about testicular cancer, I thought I was going to die.
‘Usually we men leaving things on the back burner because we are too absorbed in our work or studies.
“I was very lucky to survive, so I’m trying to raise awareness to help others detect it as quickly as I did.”
