JOHN Molan still vividly remembers the day he discovered a lump in his testicle.
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“It was a Thursday.
“I was in the shower one morning and I found a lump. I went straight to the local clinic, they sent me straight to Warrnambool.”
A diagnosis of testicular cancer quickly followed and the outlook seemed bleak. But a visit to a specialist in Ballarat helped map out a clear treatment plan.
“I had an operation on the Monday to remove the cancer then had three weeks of radiation in Ballarat,” the Camperdown man said.
He returned to Ballarat every six months to check if the cancer had returned and five years later in 2010 was finally given the all-clear.
“I’m a lucky man. It was a very stressful time,” Mr Molan said.
“I had a lot of family support every step of the way.”
The 63-year-old will represent fellow survivors and honour those lost to cancer when he officially opens Corangamite’s Relay For Life at Camperdown’s Leura Oval on the weekend.
Mr Molan will recite an oath and cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony on Saturday.
“I’ll probably get a bit emotional,” he said.
Cancer has hit the family harder than most.
“I lost my mother two years ago, it’s really affected me,” he said.
Mr Molan’s sister-in-law also lost her battle with the disease.
“It just shows we’ve got to raise the money to eradicate cancer.”
Mr Molan is a fitting choice to open the ceremony, having taken part in the Corangamite relay every year since it began. Before that he walked in the Warrnambool event with the team Sullivan Striders.
Sullivan Striders will take to Leura Oval on Saturday to walk through the night with other local teams to raise funds and awareness to help fight cancer.
Corangamite’s Relay For Life participants walk overnight from 5pm on Saturday until 11am Sunday.
The event will also feature live music and ceremonies to honour people’s experiences with cancer.
Fund-raising has been ongoing since last year’s relay in Timboon.
More than 30 teams and almost 1300 participants took part in 2014, raising more than $80,000.