As a sports-mad student, Neil Rutter thought nothing could touch him. But, as EMMA DUNN discovered, lessons from a school assembly saved his life

EACH year in the UK, around 2,300 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Ten years ago, at just 20 years old, Neil Rutter was one of them.

The St Joseph’s College art teacher, who lives in Lydiard Millicent, had learnt about the importance of checking himself regularly for abnormalities during a school assembly. And just a few years on, the advice helped to save his life.

“Most school assemblies don’t resonate with you and you forget them, but for some reason that one stayed in my mind,” said Neil.

“One day, when I was doing my monthly check, I found a pea-sized lump. In hindsight, I’d had strange feelings in the area and felt uncomfortable. As a sportsman though, I just put the feelings down to that.

“When I found the lump, I Googled it straight away. I read some scare stories but as I was young I just put it down to a cyst. The information online said testicular cancer was most common in men older than I was. I thought I was too young for that.

“I decided I should get it checked out but I wasn’t too worried. The GP I saw wasn’t too concerned either. She thought it was a cyst but said I could see a specialist if I wanted, which I did.”

Neil, who was a student at Loughborough University at the time, then had an ultrasound scan.

“The wheels started moving very quickly as soon as things looked a bit sinister. They sent me straight for an operation and talked me through the scenarios,” he said.

“They said they would open it up and if it looked at all serious they would remove it. I was either going to wake up with one or two testicles.

“They explained it wouldn’t affect my fertility and at that stage it still wasn’t confirmed as cancer. When I woke up they had removed a testicle.”

Doctors confirmed it was cancerous. Luckily though, it was in the early stages.

He was told he had an 80 per cent chance the cancer wouldn’t come back – he could either have a short course of chemotherapy to reduce the risk of it returning to 99 per cent, or roll the dice and see how he went.

“Being a 20-year-old in the middle of swimming competitions I rolled the dice and decided 80 per cent was good odds. I had regular check-ups.

“But then I started having chest pain and breathing difficulties,” he said.

“When I was swimming I was finding I couldn’t recover. I ended up collapsing on the side of the pool. That was the moment I thought things were still not quite right, but I still wasn’t thinking cancer.”

After an x-ray, Neil was given antibiotics for a chest infection.

But then he went out with friends and laughed so much he couldn’t stop – he couldn’t get his breath back and laughed himself unconscious.

Six months after he’d the original cancerous lump removed, Neil went back for another x-ray which showed it wasn’t a chest infection. He had a shadow on his lungs. A scan revealed a tumour, and he started chemotherapy straight away.

“If it happened now I would be more scared than I was at the time. I was quite fearless as a 20-year-old and you just don’t think anything will kill you,” he said. “Everything I read was reassuring. Testicular cancer has very good survival rates.

“It affected everyone around me much more than it did me. It hit my parents very hard. I had only been with my then girlfriend, Alexa – who is now my wife – for a matter of months and she was really supportive too,” he said. “I saw the cancer as an inconvenience. I’m quite pragmatic about things and I looked at it as a challenge. It was out of my control and the only thing I could do was try to get through it as best as I could.”

Neil had four cycles of chemotherapy, but despite his treatment the keen sportsman was keen to carry on training.

“I asked them if I could carry on training. They said I couldn’t swim because of the infection risk but I could go to the gym if it would help me feel normal,” he said.

“I carried on training, which kept me sane through the first two cycles. I was really feeling the effects of the chemotherapy after the first two cycles though. I was lethargic and became prone to infection.”

When Neil started treatment for the tumour in his lung, the shadow in the x-ray measured four-and-a-half inches. After the first cycle of treatment it was barely visible.

Neil eventually finished treatment and went into remission. He was given the all-clear five years ago.

A keen cyclist, he has been raising funds for Cancer Research in a bid to help more people survive the disease.

Neil and his friends have raised £1,700 with a 12-hour bikeathon at the Brunel Centre last month and a 500- mile cycle ride around Wiltshire and Bournemouth for five days in May.

In October, he will tackle a quadrathlon – swimming, kayaking, cycling and running – in Snowdonia.

“I feel lucky because of the way I found I had cancer. If I hadn’t taken notice in that assembly it could have been a very different story.

“Young people tend to feel they are invincible, I know I did,” said Neil, a member of the Cotswold Veldrijden cycling club.

“I hope my story will encourage men of all ages to be aware of testicular cancer and check themselves.”

To sponsor Neil and the team visit www.justgiving. com/Neil-Rutter1.

Be sure to check for lumps once a month

  • l Testicular cancer is one of the most treatable types of cancer. More than 96 per cent of men with early stage testicular cancer will be completely cured.
  •  Even cases of more advanced testicular cancer, where the cancer has spread outside the testicles to nearby tissue, have an 80 per cent chance of being cured.
  • Compared to other cancers, deaths from testicular cancer are rare. Cancer Research UK say that around 70 men die from testicular cancer every year in the UK.
  • Treatment includes the surgical removal of the testicle (which should not affect fertility or the ability to have sex), and chemotherapy.
  • The most common symptom is a painless lump or swelling in the testicles. Other symptoms can include: a dull ache in the scrotum (the sac of skin that hangs underneath the penis and contains the testicles); a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum lMen should check their testicles every month for any unusual lumps, much like women are advised to check for breast lumps regularly.