A footballer says his teammates saved his life after pointing out his enlarged testicle in the changing room which turned out to be cancerous.
Kevin Lane only got himself checked out after fellow players commented on his tackle before he received the shock diagnosis.
He had only known his future wife Donna for two days at the time and they had to decide whether they wanted to have children.
They agreed to go for it and he had his sperm preserved before his testicle was removed.
After the surgery, he received the devastating news that the cancer had spread to his stomach.
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Kevin only got himself checked out after fellow players commented on his tackle (StuartMartin/CancerResearch/BNPS)Kevin underwent 18 months of gruelling treatment, including several surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy.
Thankfully, he got the all clear, and after two rounds of IVF, Donna had their son, Alex.
Kevin said he is eternally grateful to his Shaftesbury FC teammates and urged men to check themselves regularly.
He is running the Race for Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.
Kevin is running the Race for Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK (StuartMartin/CancerResearch/BNPS)He said: "When a few people noticed my enlarged testicle, I knew I had to get it checked.
"It was a bit embarrassing dropping my trousers to my GP at the age of 27 but he said straight away what he thought it could be and soon after, I was booked in for surgery to confirm what it was.
"I tried to block it out of my mind by going out and then I met Donna.
"When I was going through my chemo, the players at Shaftesbury FC were so supportive. What I was going through helped people become more aware and I urged people to check themselves.
"As I think back to those times, I realise what I went through and how much it changed me. But thankfully treatment was available, I got through it and I was cured.
Kevin was 27 years old when he got his cancer diagnosis in 2001 (StuartMartin/CancerResearch/BNPS)"Having Alex was probably the proudest moment of my life. It was a huge milestone for me and a big step in my life after cancer."
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Kevin was 27 years old when he got his cancer diagnosis in 2001.
Now aged 49, his son is training to be a football referee.
Donna, 45, said she met Kevin at a music festival and he confided in her straight away that he had testicular cancer.
She said she knew she wanted to support him, leading to 'early conversations' after starting a family.
She said: "The weekend we got together, we had met at a music festival and the next day Kevin had to say to me, 'By the way, I'm going to the hospital tomorrow because they think I have testicular cancer'.
"I knew I wanted to support him from that moment on.
"It did mean that we had to have conversations really early about whether or not we wanted to have children, because they had to freeze his sperm before removing the testicle.
"Suddenly you find yourself talking to someone you've only been with for three days with him saying, 'If I die, do you want to use my sperm?' It was the most surreal moment."
Alex, 16, who plays football for three teams, said: "I'm really proud of my dad and as I've grown older, I'm at the point where I need to start opening up to my team-mates about what my dad went through.
"It's a life-changing illness and I feel confident you can talk about these things in a changing room and not be judged."
Kevin and Donna will be running the 5k event at Hudson's Field in Salisbury, Wiltshire, for Race for Life on June 11.
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