Swansea man Jak Howell first noticed he had an itchy spot on his lower back about a year ago - but he didn't think much of it as it simply felt like an insect bite. Sadly, he found out a few weeks later that it was melanoma.
"On my lower back, I had a spot and it started getting really itchy!" he said "I thought it was just a bite, so I ignored it. Then I was in the shower and I scratched it and it bled, it was bleeding quite a bit. I asked my mum what she thought about it and she said 'that's not right' and said I should go to the GP. I was in such a state of denial, but I emailed photos to the GP - the appointments were by email during the pandemic - and they told me to go straight to hospital."
At Singleton Hospital in Swansea, doctors made a 2cm incision on Jak's back and sent it off to be assessed - and later phoned him to say they found a melanoma. He was just 21 years old when he received his diagnosis. "It's been an absolute whirlwind," he said. "I've been back and forth to the doctors."
