Rhys Russell was just 15 when a chance discovery led to him being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer on his scalp and his stepdad is now honouring his memory further
The devastated parents of an 18-year-old lad who tragically passed away are honouring his memory.
Rhys Russell was 15 when a chance find resulted in him being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer on his scalp. It ranks as the fifth most prevalent form of cancer and causes approximately 2,300 deaths across the UK annually.
Rhys’ stepfather, Oli Russell, and his mother, Lauren, spoke exclusively with the Mirror in May to share the positive influence footballer Jack Grealish had on their son during his illness. They also spoke about how their lad’s curly locks made it nearly impossible to detect something was wrong.
And in an update, Oli, a student nurse, has now revealed his application to run the London Marathon for next year has been approved. He said: “I wanted to do something, not only to honour Rhys’ memory, but to thank Young Lives vs Cancer for all their support.
“I want to raise awareness and as much money as I possibly can to help young people like Rhys who are fighting their own fight and I can’t think of a better way to do it than by running one of the world’s most famous marathons.”
Speaking about the moment they realised something might be amiss, community nurse Lauren previously said: “It was really weird because he went to get in the shower and I don’t know if it was the light or whatever but we noticed like a red patch on his head.”
Oli remembered how it appeared like a tick and how Rhys confirmed that it was bleeding after they questioned him.
The stepfather, who resides in Cornwall with Lauren and Rhys’ younger siblings Peter, Conor and Jayden, continued: “Rhys told us, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve had that for ages, it bleeds sometimes but I’ve never said anything because it doesn’t hurt.’ We decided to go to the doctors to get it taken off – and it all kind of spiralled from there really.”
Lauren also revealed it was extraordinarily tough to spot, saying: “Yeah, because he had quite thick curly hair and it just looked like a mole. It was really bizarre. It was only because of the bleeding at the time, otherwise we wouldn’t have known for god knows how long. He must have known because he said it bled whenever he knocked or scratched his hair.”
Melanoma skin cancer can spread to various parts of the body and the NHS explains how the primary symptom is a mole or an alteration in an existing mole.
It is uncommon for someone as young as Rhys to receive such a diagnosis and it typically affects areas that have been exposed to the sun.
Rhys, a devoted Manchester City supporter, was given his heartbreaking diagnosis on November 21 and just twelve months later the family learnt it had reached stage four.
Cancer Research UK indicates 86% of skin cancer cases can be prevented and there are over 17,500 new instances of it annually in the UK.
Rhys underwent targeted therapy and radiotherapy to combat the lethal illness but Lauren described how everything shifted on January 17.
She revealed: “He was just in absolute agony and by that time he was on fentanyl patches. He was rolling around on the floor in agony and we took him to hospital. They did X-rays and CT scans and that is when they found it had spread to his liver, possibly one on his heart, one in his left lung, two in his right lung, and multiple all over his back. There were actually two halfway up his ribcage. It was just horrendous.”
Oli urged others to speak out if they suspect something might be wrong, saying: “Just talk about it. I think there is a big misconception that people think melanoma is something old leather handbag people get because of how you are in the sun constantly and that is not always the case. It can be a genetic thing as well.
“If there is anything you notice on your body, even if it sounds trivial, just talk to someone about it and get checked because going through what we went through, especially in those last weight weeks, watching him waste away, literally not be able to walk, going into a wheelchair and be bedbound, and because the tumour was in his brain as well, it affected his behaviour.
“It is just… it is just surreal. But we are here now. We are trying to do what we can to help other people. My wife is a community nurse and I am a student nurse and I think we are both taking this as to learn from it and take it forward and help people.
“If we can spread awareness to even one person, then it will save them hopefully going through what we have.”
Just 10 minutes before Rhys drew his last breath in March, he watched a video where he met his hero Jack Grealish on Zoom, and his final wish was to have his ashes spread at the Manchester City memorial garden.
Oli, who humorously admitted that he could “barely run up the stairs”, is now running a marathon in memory of Rhys, and if you’d like to make a contribution to his page, you can do so here.
