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Twins who were diagnosed with the same cancer just months apart are now helping other men through their diagnoses. Ryan and Sean Collard, from Hetton-Le-Hole, near Sunderland, both survived the devastating disease and have now set up a men’s health page to raise awareness of testicular cancer and support young men through the ordeal.
Ryan, who is now a primary school teacher in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, said he was dismissed as being “too young” to have cancer when he told a doctor about his symptoms. He was later diagnosed with an aggressive form of stage three testicular cancer at 23, just months before his brother Sean was diagnosed with a less aggressive form of the disease.
Ryan shared on their joint ‘Cancer Lads’ Instagram page that he had been blue-lighted to hospital twice with severe symptoms, which included passing out multiple times a day, and half of his body going completely numb.
Talking about his experience after multiple doctor appointments, he shared: “I remember seeing some symptoms of different types of cancer on social media the evening before this particular GP appointment and just thought I’d mention it.”
Ryan said he felt extremely embarrassed as the doctor laughed it off, saying “you’re too young for that!”, before putting him on a 19-week waiting list for a brain scan.
He was eventually diagnosed with Choriocarcinoma, a type of testicular cancer, but after treatment, when he was recovering, his twin Sean was devastatingly diagnosed with cancer too.
Sean had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy, and he now has two children of his own. Ryan, now 31, is married with a son following fertility treatment.
Ryan told Chronicle Live: “It was only when I met other men who had a similar lived experience I felt really able to talk freely and feel properly understood. That is why I started an Instagram account.
“Talking to like-minded people released a lot of emotions and I wanted others to have that opportunity.”
Data shared by Macmillan highlights how important it is for men to talk about their health concerns.
It found that almost half (48%) of men in their 30s said they wait for health problems to go away, which is twice as high as men aged 60 or over.
