A man who brushed off his birthmark as 'harmless' for years was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.
Jonathan Muggleton, from the UK, was a teenager when he became aware of what he thought was 'just a birthmark' in an intimate area on his body.
The 49-year-old told The Mirror that the patch was 'about the size of a small fingernail' and had been on his groin 'forever'.
However, the mark started to change in texture and appearance around five years ago, and while Jonathan was initially prescribed a cream, he went back to the doctors months later where he was referred for a biopsy.
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The dad-of-two said from there he had an 'inkling' it could be something more serious, telling The Independent: “In the back of my mind, I feared the worst and hoped for the best.”
Jonathan was then given the devastating diagnosis of mucosal melanoma, an extremely rare form of cancer, while his wife Rebecca had to wait in the car outside due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“We just sat in the car. I couldn’t speak. It was not a very nice five minutes,” he recalled.
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According to Melanoma Research Alliance, the cancer accounts for only one percent of all melanoma cases, with around 1,200 new cases of the condition diagnosed in the US every year.
The Cleveland Clinic adds it's a 'rare' and 'aggressive' type of cancer that starts in the moist areas of mucous membrane - soft tissue that lines organs around the body like the nose, lips, mouth, anus, rectum, vagina and vulva.
As it has a poor prognosis, as many patients develop incurable metastatic disease, the five-year survival rate is bleak at just 14 percent, according to researchers at Cancer Center.
Jonathan has spent the past five years dealing with the cancer, undergoing several pioneering surgeries, immunotherapy treatments and clinical trials to try to halt the growth of the melanoma.
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Sadly, the cancer then spread from its primary site to his groin lymph nodes.
Then in September 2023, he had another surgery to remove a tumor under his lung which was the first in UK history, seeing him star in an episode on British broadcaster Channel 4 in its documentary series, Super Surgeons: A Chance at Life.
In between the constant surgeries, Jonathan said he has tried to 'slot back into normal life' with his family by doing activities with his children, Charlie and Amelia, who were five and seven at the time of his diagnosis, and keeping fit by keeping up his passion for cycling.
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He said: “You either go into a very dark place and deal with it on your own, which I’ve seen friends do. But for me, I wanted to be open.
“Initially, it was very unfair, but then I moved to the point where I started to appreciate what I’ve got and focused on the things that really matter.”
Now, his wife has launched a fresh GoFundMe appeal for a new 'transformative' tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) treatment which is currently not available on the NHS and would see Jonathan fly out to the US.
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The treatment costs £350,000 (roughly $472,000) which his family believe could be 'life-saving'.
Until he can give the TILs treatment a go, Jonathan says he struggles to look forward to the future, particularly as doctors told him to 'get his affairs in order' last summer.
After his immunotherapy treatment failed, he was told he may have just six months to live - though his most recent scans show he has stabilized for the time being.
"Life carries on," the father continued. "But in the back of my mind, I’m living three months at a time. I’m waiting for the next clear scan, so I can’t really plan beyond that.”
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Donations can be made to Jonathan's fundraiser here.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.
Liv Bridge