A tiny pimple on a man's forehead ballooned in just six weeks to roughly the same size as a golf ball.
James Murray watched the small pimple become a raised black and purple lump.
The 52-year-old, from Marcoola in Queensland, admitted that trying to pop it in saltwater was 'one of the worst things he could have done'.
He told the Courier Mail that after he used his hands to try and pop his growing zit, his face scarred and he sought medical help.
He went to Sunshine Coast University Hospital's plastic and reconstructive team for surgery to remove the lump he named 'Freddie'.
Mr Murray was left with scars on his forehead from the operation, but he says he couldn't be happier with the results compared to what it looked like before.
"I was pretty concerned at one point considering how fast it was growing. It was getting pretty bad," he said.
"They told me it had to be removed and removed quickly. I had to put my faith in their hands."
The pimple turned out to be a Squamous Cell Carcinoma - the second most common form of skin cancer that starts from an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells from the skin's outer layer.
Surgeons performed a two-part procedure down to his skull in order to cut out the lump.
The procedure was followed by a complicated rotation of his scalp, to make sure the area where the cancer was found was covered.
Doctors said they had to approach the cancer's removal differently to other melanomas, as there was a chance they were dealing with a rarer form of cancer.
Melanoma is the second most common cancer on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, and doctors are using Mr Murray's story to spread awareness to get regular skin checks.
