A father nearly lost one of his arms after a lump he dismissed as an insect bite turned out to be aggressive cancer. Brian Walker, 43, noticed that the spot on the back of his arm was growing but as it caused him no pain he decided to ignore it.
But after it swelled to the size of a grapefruit his wife Helen, 44, nagged him to get it checked out, eventually booking him an appointment herself. There, he was referred to hospital and tests revealed he had an rare inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour – with only five cases recorded worldwide.
He was quickly sent for surgery to remove the growth, which doctors discovered was so vast it had nearly devoured his entire forearm. They cut away at the huge tumour and the healthy muscle and skin tissue around it, leaving him with a gaping wound which they used tissue from his back to fill.
After months of recovery he is now well and back to work as a lorry driver – and credits his wife’s persistence with saving his life. Mrs Walker, of Longtown, Cumbria, said: ‘Brian was suffering from an aggressive and malignant cancer, but he put it down to a bite. I kept telling him to get to it checked out.
‘I’m very pleased I got him to go to the doctor. He could have lost his arm if he hadn’t been treated. ‘The point is you can’t just regard a lump as nothing. It should be checked out.’
Mr Walker first noticed a spot on his arm in January 2015 but thought nothing of it. Eight months later it had grown to the size of a 50-pence-piece and his wife told him he should get it checked out.