Alfred Fagan's world was turned on its head when he was told the news everyone dreads during a routine visit to his doctor.
After hurting his back at the gym in 2013 aged 50, the Birmingham man went to get checked out by his GP. But what he hoped was only a minor issue quickly became much more serious - and potentially a matter of life and death.
Naturally, Mr Fagan was filled with fear upon hearing the initial diagnosis of prostate cancer. And it was only his own decision to ask for a check-up which potentially saved his life.
"When I heard I had cancer, I thought I was going to die," he admitted to Birmingham Mail.
The 60-year-old said he had seen something on TV about black men being at higher risk of prostate cancer so he thought, as he was at the doctor's, why not get a blood test? It's something he assumed would be routine - a quick check-up and off you go.
Mr Fagan continued: "Before I was diagnosed, I was really fit and healthy - cancer was the last thing on my mind. I actually only went to the doctor in the first place because I’d hurt my back at the gym.
"I’d recently seen a piece on TV about black men being at higher risk for prostate cancer, so I casually mentioned it to my GP while I was there. Because of my age and ethnicity, I was given a blood test and was eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer."
It's now 10 years since his diagnosis and Mr Fagan is thankfully cancer free. But he often wonders what the outcome would have been had he not hurt his back, and then asked his doctor for that blood test.
Prostate cancer often has no symptoms in its early stages meaning it can be almost impossible for sufferers to know they have it. Health leaders are urging more men to get tested as part of a nationwide campaign.
Those who are over 50, black or have a family history of the illness, are likely to be more at risk. Mr Fagan said: "When I heard I had cancer, I thought I was going to die. What I know now is how lucky I was that I caught it early, because I got treated and now 10 years on, I’m still cancer-free.
"These days I spend a lot of time speaking to men about prostate cancer, which means I know first-hand how widespread these myths are – I had one friend who refused to believe me when I told him one in four black men get prostate cancer – and now he has it himself.
"The main message I try to get across is that you just can’t wait for symptoms, because if I had, I don’t know if I’d have been diagnosed in time."
Chiara De Biase, director of support and influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Men’s health can be a minefield. Everyone has gaps in their knowledge and every one of us probably believes something that just isn’t true.
“But what’s really worrying is that this misinformation could stop a man from getting the early diagnosis that could save his life. It’s especially concerning how many men believe they’ll see signs of early stage prostate cancer and would avoid speaking to their GP if they didn’t have symptoms, when we know that prostate cancer doesn’t usually have any symptoms at all until it’s already spread and become incurable."
