Chris Hughes’ brother has been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The former ‘Love Island’ star raised awareness for the disease two months ago when he had his testicles examined live on ITV show ‘This Morning’, and after the TV moment prompted his brother Ben to check for lumps himself, Chris has revealed the sad news that Ben does have cancer.
Posting a picture of himself and Ben as children on Instagram on Tuesday (08.01.19), Chris said: "A sad day. My brother was diagnosed with testicular cancer this lunchtime, in which we pray for a kind prognosis. He came into my room at 3am the morning after my testicular examination on tv, clearly struggling to sleep, telling me he’d found a lump and asked me if he’s checking it right. To which I told him, ‘Ben, it’s 3am, I’ll look in the morning, but if there’s a lump, go and check it checked tomorrow with the doctor’. Today he sent me a message telling me the news, and thanking me for making him aware, else he’d never have known he had cancer.. That literally broke my heart. Testicular cancer is a silent killer, men need realise this and check themselves regularly. It takes 10 seconds. Please do it. (sic)"
Chris had a cancer scare himself when he was 20, after he’d been suffering with a problem with his testicles since he was 14, but neglected to do anything about it.
Although the reality star thankfully didn’t have cancer, he was diagnosed with two conditions which left doctors fearing that he may be infertile – like both his brothers.
Ben sadly isn’t the only member of Chris’ family to have been diagnosed with testicular cancer either, as his cousin had his testicle removed after discovering he had the disease because of stomach cramps as it moved up through his body.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’ about why he didn’t have his testicles checked sooner, he said: "Because it doesn’t come with a lot of pain it’s easy to neglect. Everyone thinks they know their body. There’s a right way to check them. I’ll be honest with you it’s not something you grab hold of in everyday life. You wash yourself but don’t necessarily use your fingers to identify."