Strictly Come Dancing star Greg Rutherford opens up about cancer scare in lockdown
Strictly Come Dancing star Greg Rutherford has revealed his lockdown cancer scare.
On Thursday (August 13), the track and field Olympian took to Instagram to share that he'd discovered a lump on one of his testicles, but he initially chose to ignore it.
The long jump specialist posted an image of himself walking in the countryside with his family, which he captioned: "I'm a lucky man. I have a beautiful, loving family and have enjoyed years of success in a sport I loved. I've always felt somewhat invincible physically... but during lockdown that invincibility took a massive knock.
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"While we were all cooped up in our homes doing our best to steady the horrible scenario that covid had created, to put it bluntly, I found a lump on one of my balls.
"Rather than accept it was there, I ignored it and created distractions like training again and using my physical strength to overpower the unknown."
Greg went on to explain how ignoring the lump 'obviously didn't work' and that his mental health took a "bit of a beating" as a result.
Thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm as Greg finally went to get the lump checked.
"After an appointment, bloods and a scan I was told it was cysts! BLOODY CYSTS. But most importantly nothing to seriously worry about," he wrote. "I don't think I've felt relief like it."
Greg explained how he reached out to a close friend who previously suffered with testicular cancer before urging other men to check themselves for lumps.
A post shared by Greg Rutherford (@gregjrutherford) on Aug 13, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT
"Even now, during a pandemic, when I think it's safe to say we're fearful of wasting doctors and nurses time," he wrote. "If you're a bloke, grab them and make sure nothing's wrong. And if your partner won't check their own balls, maybe offer to do it for them."
He added: "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."
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