The 6th of June is National Cancer Survivors Day and the team at Moon Executive Search would like to pay homage to the organisations and individuals that lead the fight against cancer.

Sandy Hinks, Head of Charity Practice at Moon Executive Search built the CRUK Bristol Board and Natalie Mockett, EA to Vanessa, is Secretary for Business Beats Cancer Bristol who bring business leaders together to raise vital funds for CRUK.

This story focuses on Luke Packer, a survivor from Bristol.

Luke was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in 2018, while working as a full-time carer for his great-grandmother.

Luke Packer cares a lot! He has been busy working as a nurse since qualifying in Bristol in August 2020 but even before that he was a full-time carer for his great-grandmother.

Today the 21-year-old is busy working on the Covid vaccination programme, seeing up to 800 people a day – very much on the front line and when he is not there, Luke is a full-time nurse at Stoke Gifford Medical Centre.

In 2018 he was diagnosed with melanoma – the 5th most common cancer in the UK. The route to diagnosis started when he noticed a mole on his left temple had become swollen.

He explains: “One morning in early 2018 I woke up with a little bit of blood on my pillow.  But I didn’t think anything of it, and it was July before I went to the doctor.

“My GP fast-tracked me to the hospital, where they asked if I had any skin cancer in the family, but we have no history of any form of cancer.  The dermatologist did not think the mole looked cancerous, and recommended I apply a hydrocortisone cream twice daily.

“I went back a month later to say the cream wasn’t helping, and the dermatologist said he had never seen a mole quite like mine.  He suggested shaving it close to my face and sending the remainder for biopsy, which was done, and in November I had a call from him to say it was malignant melanoma in situ, meaning it had not spread.”

Around 16,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year and more than 1 in 4 skin cancer cases are diagnosed in people under 50, which is unusually early compared with other types of cancer.

Luke explains:

“I wasn’t worried when I went back for a second operation, which involved removing the mole and left me with five or six stitches, and I was told no more treatment was needed.   But when I went back for a skin check a few weeks later, I was shocked to be told my cancer had actually been found to be a rare and aggressive kind which had spread.  

 “December 2018 was a traumatic time; my great-grandmother passed away on the 17th, and on the 22nd I was back in hospital for a third operation to execise the cancerous tissue below where the mole had been. 

“I was told there was a chance I could need chemo if the cancer had been found to spread any further, and that’s when I broke down; I was in the middle of training to qualify as a nurse, and could not bear the thought of anything interfering with my degree.”

Luckily, the excision was wide and deep enough to remove all the cancerous tissue and Luke had eight stitches across the left side of his face. 

“After my final operation I had three-monthly check-ups, starting on my 20th birthday in March 2019.  A head-to-toe examination to see if there were any other moles which might cause concern was done and always repeated.

 “Although I have never been one for the sun, I now have to wear Factor 50 sunscreen and I am aware sun damage may have had a part to play in my melanoma.   So, the message I would like to put out to other people is to be safe in the sun.”

Every year around 5,800 people are diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in the South West of England.*

Cancer Research UK is often contacted by the media to comment on how to stay safe in the sun and talk about the rise in skin cancer cases.

Amanda Finch, Health Information manager at Cancer Research UK says:

“The risk of developing melanoma is around 3 times higher in people who have had sunburn just once every two years, compared with people who have never been sunburned. It doesn’t need to peel -sunburn includes reddening of the skin, or skin that feels irritated, tender of itchy.”

“The best way to protect your skin is with a combination of shade, clothing and sunscreen with at least SPF15 and 4 or 5 stars. Take care between 11am and 3pm when the sun is strongest in the UK, especially if you burn easily. And if you spot any changes to your skin, don’t ignore them. Whether it’s a new mark or mole, or a change to something that’s been there for a while, take charge and talk to your doctor. It probably won’t be cancer, but if it is, spotting it early means that treatment is more likely to be successful.”

Find out more about melanoma skin cancer on the CRUK website.

*Based on the annual average number of new cases of melanoma skin cancer (ICD10 C43) between 2015 and 2017

Thank you to Luke and CRUK for sharing their story.

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