'i left hospital ready to celebrate - days later everything changed'

A personal trainer who mistook testicular cancer for a football injury has spoken of the importance of speaking up and asking questions. Jonathan Booth, who has worked as a fitness coach for

four years, has been left ‘overcoming the worst experience’ of his life after a biopsy turned his world 'upside down'. The 32 year old from Halifax says he regrets "not

checking fast enough" after initially dismissing the lump in his testicle as a footballing injury. He now has tumours in his brain and chest. The fitness-fanatic found the lump on his

testicle in early May. Now, Jonathan has said he ‘wished he had gotten checked’ straight away - although he only delayed checking it out by a few days. “I don't know if in those three

or four days could have done something," he said. "My cancer is so aggressive, I just wish I had gotten checked sooner.” As soon as Jonathan went to his GP, he was referred for an

ultrasound. On the same day after his examination, Jonathan received a call from a surgeon at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, telling him he had to come in immediately for the tumour to be

removed. After his surgery, Jonathan believed he was on a road to recovery but just as he was about to celebrate, things took an ‘unimaginable’ turn. Jonathan said: “I was was heading off to

celebrate with my family after being discharged as seemingly cancer-free, but three days after my surgery I received a call from Leeds St James Hospital asking me to attend some CT scans

that week, as a precaution. “Five days later, I was told to meet with the doctors who diagnosed me with three high-risk blood indicators, alongside a cancerous node in my abdomen, several

small tumours in my chest, an 8mm brain tumour and a 1.5mm brain tumour.” Jonathan said the feeling of ‘being fine one minute and having cancer the next’ was incredibly heavy: "People

think that because you're young and fit you wont get it - but that's not how it works. It's a disease. “For me, it was hard to process at once. One day it will hit me hard, I

think, but at the moment it’s just generally heavy. "I hate being looked after and I am usually very independent. I am also self-employed so there is that to worry about. On top of

that, I have lost 5kg in a week as well as my hair. It's not just physical it's a burden; it affects your whole life.” Jonathan is now urging people to advocate for themselves, if

they think they may be sick. He said: “I should have probed more at my scans and meetings. If you even think there is a doubt, get it checked out.” Jonathan is now undergoing four cycles of

intense chemotherapy. On top of this, he is attending a day of chemotherapy every Wednesday for the next eight weeks. If all the treatment works, it should finish at the end of July. To help

his family manage while he is ill, Jonathan has set up a GoFund Me. _GET ALL THE LATEST AND BREAKING NEWS IN YORKSHIRE BY __SIGNING UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER HERE._ _GET ALL THE LATEST AND

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