FA Cup: ‘I could have died’ – the manager raising awareness about skin cancer

“I felt blessed to be there, it was just the medicine I needed during my recovery,” says Ross Weatherstone about being at Wembley in March to see his brother celebrate Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup triumph at Wembley.

Simon Weatherstone, first-team coach and a key member of Eddie Howe’s backroom team at Newcastle, shared an emotional embrace at the national stadium with his younger sibling, who five months earlier had undergone major surgery after being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer., external

“I had a chunk taken out of my right calf,” Ross, manager of Berkshire non-league club Binfield, tells BBC Sport.

“I originally went to the doctor’s because I found some flaky skin on my left leg, which ended up being keratosis moles, which was all fine.

“During the same check in April 2024, we agreed to do a full body check, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

“While checking my other leg, the tone of the doctors voice changed, which will live with me forever, when she said ‘oh, ok, this one looks a little different, we need to get this checked and a biopsy done as soon as possible’.

“The NHS were great, I was seen within two weeks and they diagnosed me within 24 hours with melanoma skin cancer. It was quite an aggressive form but they were confident they had caught it early.

“I feel unbelievably lucky. If I had not been checked over that day, if I had left that mole exposed in the summer of 2024, the consultant informed me, my situation would have been life-threatening.

“I was now in the system, where I had test after test. During an eye test, the consultants found a mole/freckle at the back of my eye, close to my blind spot, which was diagnosed as high risk choroidal atypical nevus with leaking subretinal fluid.

“I am still being treated for my eye and monitored every couple of months. It is something I am going to have to manage for the rest of my life.”

Ross, a former defender who played for Oxford United, is telling his story to raise awareness about the dangers of skin cancer.

“The scary part reliving this now is, If I had not been checked when I was, I wouldn’t be here to share this story,” he adds.

“I wouldn’t wish what I have been through on anyone.”