Greg Rutherford warning after 'ignoring' testicular lump found during lockdown
Olympic gold medallist and Celebrity MasterChef winner Greg Rutherford admits his mental health "took a beating" as he tried to ignore the lump he had found
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Greg Rutherford has spoken out about the worrying moment he found a lump on his testicle and how he tried to ignore it during lockdown.
The 33-year-old Olympic gold medallist admitted his mental health "took a beating" as he worried about what to do next after making his discovery.
The Celebrity MasterChef winner of 2019 admitted that he couldn't even bring himself to tell his wife Susie Verrill about it until he turned to a friend after the "physical pain and worry" got too much for him.
Greg was fortunate as the lump turned out to be a cyst but he is now urging his followers to get themselves checked out to avoid the torrid time that he went through.
The retired long-jumper opened up on Instagram, posting a photo of his family and writing a lengthy comment to go with it.
Greg said: "I’m a lucky man. I have a beautiful, loving family and have enjoyed years of success in a sport I loved.
"I’ve always felt somewhat invincible physically... but during lockdown that invincibility took a massive knock.
"While we were all cooped up in our homes doing our best to steady the horrible scenario that covid had created, to put it bluntly, I found a lump on one of my balls.
"Rather than accept it was there, I ignored it and created distractions like training again and using my physical strength to overpower the unknown."
Greg revealed that this tactic didn't work as planned. He continued: "Obviously that didn’t work and my mental health took a bit of a beating when fear set in.
"I didn’t tell Susie or anyone close to me until the physical pain and worry got the better of me, then I reached out to a friend (Leo Barker) who’d suffered badly with testicular cancer.
"He said what I already knew... GO AND GET IT CHECKED! After an appointment, bloods and a scan I was told it was cysts! BLOODY CYSTS. But most importantly nothing to seriously worry about. I don’t think I’ve felt relief like it."
Greg concluded: "I’m just here asking everyone to check. Even now, during a pandemic, when I think it’s safe to say we’re fearful of wasting doctors and nurses time.
"If you’re a bloke, grab them and make sure nothings wrong. And if your partner won’t check their own balls, maybe offer to do it for them.
"I feel incredibly grateful I can say it’s nothing serious, but I’ve also realised that while worrying’s a natural response, it solves nothing.
"Keep checking and if you find something, take it seriously."
MirrorCeleb