Greg Rutherford urges men to 'check themselves' for cancer after ignoring lump
The Olympic star admits his mental health "took a bit of a beating when fear set in" after finding a lump during lockdown.
Friday 14 August 2020 14:26, UK
Olympic champion Greg Rutherford is urging men to check themselves for testicular cancer after admitting he ignored a lump he discovered during the coronavirus lockdown.
The father of two achieved long jump glory on "Super Saturday" at London 2012, which saw him and fellow Team GB stars Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah win gold within just 44 minutes of each other.
In a lengthy post on Instagram, Rutherford opened up about a recent cancer scare, saying that instead of accepting he had found a lump, he "created distractions, like training again", and used his "physical strength to overpower the unknown".
The 33-year-old said: "I've always felt somewhat invincible physically, but during lockdown that invincibility took a massive knock."
Rutherford said his mental health "took a bit of a beating when fear set in".
He continued: "I didn't tell Susie (his wife) or anyone close to me until the physical pain and worry got the better of me, then I reached out to a friend who'd suffered badly with testicular cancer.
"He said what I already knew... GO AND GET IT CHECKED!
"After an appointment, bloods and a scan, I was told it was cysts! But most importantly nothing to seriously worry about.
"I don't think I've felt relief like it."
Rutherford is now calling for men to check themselves, saying: "Even now, during a pandemic, when I think it's safe to say we're fearful of wasting doctors and nurses time - if you're a bloke, grab them and make sure nothing's wrong.
"I feel incredibly grateful I can say it's nothing serious, but I've also realised that while worrying's a natural response, it solves nothing.
"Keep checking and if you find something, take it seriously."
Testicular cancer accounts for just one percent of all cancers that occur in men, according to the , which says around 2,300 men are diagnosed with it each year in the UK.
The health service says that although relatively uncommon overall, testicular cancer is the most common type of cancer to affect men between the ages of 15 and 49.
Greg Rutherford is supporting Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, that brings the UK together to accelerate life-saving cancer research. Get involved and donate at SU2C.org.uk