Manchester United defender Max Taylor has bravely opened up on his setback during his battle with testicular cancer.
The now-21-year-old was diagnosed with the illness back in 2018, forcing him to put his promising football career on hold as his health became his primary focus.
Taylor underwent surgery to remove a lump on his testicle before a gruelling nine-week course of chemotherapy to attempt to cure him.
He then had to go back under the knife to remove some of his lymph nodes after discovering the cancer had spread, before eventually getting the all clear.
Now the inspirational youngster has spoken out on his experiences as he urged for the subject to become a more prominent point of discussion.
"At the start I felt the pain run through my groin and that’s when I thought it stemmed from the testicle so I thought I’m going to have to have a feel. And I did have to look up on how to test myself and check," he told Sky News .
"But I do think now that I've had the opportunity to talk about it I wish then it was more talked about and I could openly speak to people about it. Men especially we need to bring it into conversation a lot more."
Asked about his setbacks along the way, he explained: "I had my first operation to get it removed and then I went to chemotherapy but before I went to chemotherapy we knew that it had spread.
"That was the reason I had to start the chemotherapy, but after there was good news, there was no sign of any more cancer.
"After that I got told we need to do another scan just to see if the lymph nodes which it had spread through had reduced in size or if they’d stayed the same size to which we found out they’d stayed the same size and I would have to have them removed."
But rather than be disheartened by the prospect of another operation, Taylor looked on the positive side.
"It was another setback," he added. "But to know I could have the surgery and peace of mind it was a setback I was willing to take."
Taylor has since returned to football and was on loan at Kidderminster Harriers this season, prior to the National League North campaign being curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He is now back at United where he is yet to make his debut, with his contract currently up for renewal this summer.
