Andy Prowting: Fails Fight Against Skin Cancer

Eight months after his Turkey holiday, Andy Prowting is no more. Eight months after his holiday, he realised having developed skin cancer on getting sunburnt at Turkey. Early this year, in January, he noticed a large, brown mole on his back. It had transformed colour and texture when he had returned from his trip. At the dermatology centre in St Mary’s Community Health Campus, Portsmouth, he was diagnosed for skin cancer identified as malignant melanoma.

Chemotherapy:

In April, surgeons at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham put him to aggressive treatment. The lymph nodes under his right arm and tissues in his back were removed. In August, Andy was referred for chemotherapy clinical trial. When doctors ran the test, they discovered the spread of cancer to Andy’s bones and liver that left him only months to live.

Andy’s Army:

As no treatment is available in the UK, Andy’s friends ran a fundraising group ‘Andy’s Army’ on Facebook. The campaign helped raise £23,000 in just about five weeks. They expected to raise 60,000 pounds so that Andy could go over to Texas, USA for taking lifesaving treatment. But, Andy passed away on Wednesday evening.

The funds raised through the campaign is now being given to the teenager and young adult cancer unit at Southampton General Hospital, Southampton.

Skin Cancer:

Every year, skin cancers of different types are affecting hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. Skin Caners of different types termed non-melanoma and melanoma affect people. This begins in layers of the skin and later spread to the inner organs of the body. A mole in the back, arms and legs is the most common symptom of this variety of cancer. These moles usually bleed and are large. The chances of getting a non-melanoma cancer can be lowered by using sunscreen lotions and by sensible dressing. It is best to avoid sunbeds and sunlamps, which emit the much harmful UV rays. One of the major skin cancer triggers is attributed to UV rays exposure.

Source-Medindia