Queensland professor Dan Angus was being interviewed in a television story on ABC News when a South Australian GP noticed something suspicious looking on his cheek.
Dr Graeme Siggs, who has a special interest in skin cancer and had never met Professor Angus, noticed he had a brown spot on his cheek and wrote to him to suggest he get it checked.
It was a spot that the professor of digital communication at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) had noticed over the past few years under his right eye.
"I've had it checked by GPs and others, and they've kind of said, 'Alright, look. Let's treat it with a bit of caution and keep an eye on that'," he said.
"[After the story aired] I got this email from Graeme Siggs … and he said, 'Look I just noticed there's this kind of lesion underneath your right eye'."
Professor Angus told ABC Radio Brisbane that the brown spot on his face looked like a flat, large freckle.
But Dr Siggs had found older photos of Professor Angus online and analysed how the spot had grown over time.
Spurred to act by the email, Professor Angus went to another GP and pushed for a referral to a specialist.
"Within a couple of weeks, [I had a biopsy] and it turned out it's an in situ melanoma, and this is not good," he said.
"It was at level zero, so before it's become incredibly invasive, so my chances and outlook is quite positive as things go."
Professor Angus had the melanoma and some surrounding tissue removed — the equivalent in size of a 50 cent piece — which left him with a 10-centimetre scar.
"I'm pretty chuffed with the quality of the surgeons' work, actually. They're amazing at what they do," he said.
Interaction potentially life saving
Professor Angus wrote to Dr Siggs soon after he found out the surgery had been successful.
"I said, 'Graeme, when I come to Adelaide next I owe you a beer and a hug'," he said.
"I've got two young girls, a wife who loves me, you know, a family that loves me.
"For someone to take the time to reach out and do something like that to intervene in your life, and in a way that is potentially life saving, is quite an incredible act."
Dr Siggs said he was glad to hear that Professor Angus had discovered the melanoma early, after his warning.
"I was delighted, of course, and pleased that I was able to save a life," he said.
"Basically, because had it grown to a more advanced invasive stage, it could have easily threatened his life."
