A CANCER charity campaigner who lost both parents to the disease and is a survivor himself is taking his message to schools and colleges.
Darren Couchman, 49, of Little Clacton, is the community engagement manager for the Robin Cancer Trust in Essex.
He was just 19 when his mum and dad died within five weeks of each other and eight years later he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Darren said: “My mum was fighting breast cancer for five years but my dad ignored his own symptoms because he didn’t want to put stress on my mum or the rest of the family.
“As soon as my mum passed away we took dad to hospital because he was in agony – he had had bladder cancer for eight or nine months and he died five weeks after her.
“I’m a testicular cancer survivor myself and I know from experience what I’m talking about because I was 27 and married to Sarah with two lovely kids when I was in the bath one night and having a rummage down below.”
Darren felt a lump in the middle of his right testicle and thought it was a cyst or sports injury at first.
But he knew a lump was a possible sign of cancer so he booked an appointment and ran tests which confirmed it was a tumour.
He went in for surgery the next week and had the testicle removed.
Tests confirmed Darren had cancer but it hadn’t spread and a one-off session of chemotherapy and regular checks over the next 13 years confirmed the cancer hadn’t returned and persuaded him that he wanted to raise awareness of testicular cancer.
Since then, he has fathered another child, Ruby, become a grandfather and done hundreds of awareness talks, publicity stunts and events.
Darren’s employers, the Robin Cancer Trust, was awarded £750 by Clacton Shopping Village for its work in raising awareness of testicular and ovarian cancer.
Leanne Pfrang, operations manager at Clacton Shopping Village, added: “The Robin Cancer Trust is an amazing charity and Darren is a fantastic advocate for them.”
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