Dorset footballers spotted teammate's testicular cancer

The changing room chat encouraged Kevin Lane, from Gillingham, to get checked out but he was shocked to receive the official diagnosis just 48 hours after meeting his future wife, Donna.

The new couple were immediately faced with decisions about their plans to have a family together as doctors took steps to preserve his sperm before treatment.

Now, 22 years later and happily married, the pair are parents to son Alex through IVF.

This year, to give back to research and help celebrate 30 years of Race for Life, Kevin and Donna will be running the 5k event at Salisbury’s Hudson’s Field on June 11th.

Kevin, 49, said: “The money raised at Race for Life goes such a long way and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the research Race for Life has funded and neither would the thousands and thousands of people after me too. It’s amazing.”  Sharing his story during testicular cancer awareness month, Kevin said: “When a few people noticed my enlarged testicle, I knew I had to get it checked.

“It was a bit embarrassing dropping my trousers to my GP at the age of 27 but he said straight away what he thought it could be and soon after, I was booked in for surgery to confirm what it was. I tried to block it out of my mind by going out and then I met Donna.”

Donna, 45, said: “The weekend we got together, we had met at a music festival and the next day Kevin had to say to me, ‘By the way, I’m going to the hospital tomorrow because they think I have testicular cancer’. I knew I wanted to support him from that moment on.

“It did mean that we had to have conversations really early about whether or not we wanted to have children, because they had to freeze his sperm before removing the testicle.

“Suddenly you find yourself talking to someone you’ve only been with for three days with him saying, ‘If I die, do you want to use my sperm?’ It was the most surreal moment.”

“It made our relationship really intense, really quickly because we had to make those life choices, but I knew I wanted to be part of that.”

Donna, Alex and Kevin Lane (Image: Cancer Research UK)

After having his testicle removed, doctors discovered that Kevin’s cancer had spread to his stomach, so over a period of around eighteen months, he underwent surgery several times and received chemotherapy before he was well enough to return to work and his beloved football.

Kevin said: “When I was going through my chemo, the players at Shaftesbury FC were so supportive. What I was going through helped people become more aware and I urged people to check themselves.

“As I think back to those times, I realise what I went through and how much it changed me. But thankfully treatment was available, I got through it and I was cured.”

Soon after Kevin had recovered, the couple began IVF treatment and after two attempts, they received the incredible news that Donna was pregnant with Alex.

Kevin said: “Having Alex was probably the proudest moment of my life. It was a huge milestone for me and a big step in my life after cancer.”

Alex, 16, studies football, plays in three teams and is also a referee, giving him plenty of opportunities to encourage his teammates to have the type of conversations that helped to save his dad’s life.

He said: “I’m really proud of my dad and as I’ve grown older, I’m at the point where I need to start opening up to my team-mates about what my dad went through. It’s a life-changing illness and I feel confident you can talk about these things in a changing room and not be judged.”

As well as encouraging men to check themselves, the family are hoping people will join them by signing up to this year’s Race for Life events which Donna has been part of since Alex was born.

Donna, whose mum has beaten cancer three times, said: “I love it and it’s really inclusive, regardless of your fitness ability and I do it because raising money is so important.

“The research behind cancer is huge and we know that Kev survived because research moved on and treatments had progressed. Had he been diagnosed five years earlier, he might not have made it, so it’s vital the research continues through Race for Life.

“It’s such an uplifting event and you read the signs on people’s backs and everybody is there for a different reason. I would recommend it to anyone whether you can run or walk, everyone is accepted and included.”

This year is the 30th year of Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life with events taking place all over the country.  For event dates, visit raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org