A RUGBY star has told of a worrying cancer scare as he encourages men to check for signs of the disease.

Glasgow Warriors player Zander Fagerson came across a painful lump on his scrotum which gave him a "fright".

As time passed, the lump and pain remained so the tighthead prop had it checked and, thankfully, he was given the all-clear.

The 27-year-old said: “I have had a personal scare with a lump. Time went on and it was still sore so I got it checked. Fortunately, it turned out to be just a bad bruise from a burst blood vessel.

“But that gave me a bit of a fright, so now I make sure I check myself regularly.”

His experience has prompted the athlete to join forces with Cahonas, Scotland’s Testicular Cancer education, awareness and support charity, as it launches a new coffee blend in support of Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, which takes place in April.

Glasgow Times:

Zander, who was named in the last British and Irish Lions squad, visited The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow to support the new Cahonas blend, which will raise much-needed funds for the charity and their life-saving work.

Zander added: “I’m a coffee enthusiast, so I was delighted to be asked to come and help with the launch of this coffee in support of Cahonas and Testicular Cancer Awareness Month”

“I have since met some amazing people through Cahonas who have had testicular cancer and found it early enough to get treated and went on to live their lives and start families.

“You can see the massive impact testicular cancer has on young men in Scotland but Cahonas helps raise awareness about it.”

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer amongst men aged 15 to 45, with six men diagnosed every day - that’s more than 2,400 men a year.

But if it is caught early, the survival rate for testicular cancer is an incredible 96 per cent.

Despite that, surveys consistently show that more than half of all men under 40 have never properly examined their testicles.

Glasgow Times:

Todd Whiteford, co-owner of The Good Coffee Cartel was diagnosed with testicular cancer in January 2013 when he was just 29. Luckily, the disease was detected in its early stages and Todd underwent chemotherapy before being given the all-clear, however, in 2019 the disease returned this time in the other testicle.

Todd said: “You can see a little bit of a rising tide thanks to charities like Cahonas that are destigmatising talking about testicular cancer. It’s important that we are open about it and let everyone know that this could happen to anyone.

“Your dad, your brother, your boyfriend, any of your friends, It’s pretty indiscriminate. The only deciding factor is you have to have balls.

“We hope that our Cahonas blend coffee can raise as much money for Testicular Cancer education and awareness as possible, get people drinking good coffee and for more men to check their beans."

The Cahonas blend is available to purchase in-store or online at The Good Coffee Cartel with all profits going to Cahonas.