"freak" after he was diagnosed with a rare penis cancer and had to have it amputated.
Shaun Evans, 55, first started to feel a discomfort down below in June 2022.
Shaun Evans, 55, first started to feel a discomfort down below in June 2022.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, my name is Sean Evans and I'm 55 years old. In 2022, I was diagnosed with
00:09penile cancer. I was finding it very difficult to mobilize, extremely
00:14difficult to sit, I couldn't stand for any period of time. When I sought medical
00:20advice, it was very much treated like I had a sexually transmitted disease. Now
00:28this was because of the symptoms I was displaying. Unfortunately, when medical
00:35professionals examined me, they were dumbfounded. I had a lesion beneath my
00:42foreskin at the base of my penis. The best way to describe this lesion is that
00:49it would resemble what we now know to be a cold sore on one's lip. I saw the
00:55urologist on the 1st of September 2022, by which time I was in a lot of pain. I
01:02was bleeding from beneath the foreskin and I was bleeding from the end of my
01:09penis. Having met with a consultant, she arranged for me to have an ultrafine
01:15scan of my groin to see exactly what was going on. The doctor told me that I had
01:22an extremely severe and an extremely deep penile abscess. On the 23rd of
01:30December, I underwent 5-hour surgery to remove my penis and hopefully to remove
01:39the penile cancer as well. People say that it was a terrible experience. Yeah,
01:46it was a terrible experience for one to lose one's manhood, particularly at 53
01:53years old. But the staff, the nurses, the doctors, the healthcare assistants were
02:01all absolutely marvellous. And finally, on the 20th of January 2023, I was returned
02:11home to fully start my recovery from penile cancer. What I'm hoping to do is
02:19start my own charity specifically for penile cancer. And part of this, I hope,
02:27will include myself being able to reach out to other gentlemen who are suffering
02:35with penile cancer, help them, be a shoulder to lean on and hopefully help
02:43them through the experience. Two years after my operation, I'm finally enjoying
02:51the life that I once led and I'm starting to enjoy all the things that I once used
02:56to enjoy. Even though I'm a new version of myself, I may have a part of mine not
03:03even missing, but you know, I'm still me, I'm still Sean. And in many ways, I like
03:09to think that this has happened for a good reason. But life really is worth
03:14living and a cancer diagnosis, particularly penile cancer, doesn't mean
03:20it's the end. For me, it was the end of the old and the start of a new beginning.
03:33you