A dad-of-eight who led a healthy life and never drank or smoked was hit with a devastating cancer diagnosis after his nurse sister urged him to get checked.
Mike Crowe 'shied away' from getting a prostate exam but after his sister encouraged him to do so, doctors informed him his prostate was 'very small' and sent him for further tests.
The Liverpool Echo reports how the 62-year-old knew something wasn't right when the consultant and a nurse were in the room but were not smiling. The biopsy's came back and confirmed that Mike had prostate cancer.
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"They told me the biopsies have come back and that I have prostate cancer," said Mike, a granddad-of-nine from Liverpool. "Everything just went blank. Everything he said after I wasn't taking in properly. I stood up and felt weak.
"I never drank or smoked and in my head there was nothing I could have done better to prevent this. The next day I got up and told myself, 'I can beat this'."
Thankfully doctors caught Mike's cancer during the early stages and it had no spread, meaning he had a significantly better chance of recovery - there were also several treatment options available.
After a sensational eight-day turnaround Mike underwent an operation and was back to work in no time. Now, brave prostate cancer survivor Mike is encouraging other men to to come forward if they fall into the risk category, or have any symptoms.
Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and treatable if caught early. Tackling the disease at stages one and two has a near 100 per cent survival rate compared to around 50 per cent at stage four, according to NHS research.
Prostate cancer is usually symptomless during an early stage but the chances of developing it are higher for black men, men over the age of 50 or for those who have a family history of the disease.
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