Deny Fell, a farmer in East Yorkshire, is urging other growers to get checked after a routine blood test revealed prostate cancer earlier this year.
Aged 73, Denys went for the test in June which showed an elevated prostate-specific antigen level (PSA), leading to additional tests. His diagnosis came days later.
“I got one of the biggest shocks of my life. It blew my world apart,” he says. “I thought ‘you cannot be serious’.”
He adds that he felt healthy and well, and just 12 months earlier he had completed the Boston Marathon.
Denys had surgery in September before being declared cancer-free in November. “It’s important to get seen within good time,” he says. “Please, please get yourself checked.”
He has shared his story as part of the Farming Community Network’s #NipItInTheBud campaign, ran in conjunction with Macmillan Cancer Support.
For more information go to www.fcn.org.uk