ITV Coronation Street star Jack James Ryan recalls finding lump as he details testicular cancer battle at 19

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Coronation Street star Jack James Ryan has opened up about being diagnosed with testicular cancer at just 19-years-old. The actor, who is winning praise for his portrayal of reformed drug dealer Jacob Hay on the ITV soap, was first diagnosed in 2017.

While going on to make a full recovery, the soap star has shared how he feels 'grateful to be alive' and that his life on the cobbles is enriched further by what he has been through. "Every day I get on set I think: ‘Wow, this could have been so different,'" he said.

Jack, now 24, explained that he was studying at drama school when he returned to his mum Maranna's house in Manchester for the Easter holidays and discovered a lump while his mum and older sister Rebecca, who recently starred in the ITV soap as Lydia Chambers, were downstairs.

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"My sister had a friend round. I screamed: ‘Rebecca! Rebecca!’ She ran upstairs and I told her that her friend had to go," he recalled to the Mirror. "She asked her to leave and she came back upstairs with my mum and I told them what I’d found."

Jack got booked into the doctors and was referred to hospital, where he had surgery to remove his left testicle and went on to receive a prosthetic replacement. Afterwards, he underwent chemotherapy to ensure that the cancer had not spread. Four months later he returned to his course at Guildford School of Acting in Surrey,

"I don’t take anything for granted anymore," he said. "I did before, but I don’t now – I know how lucky I am. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I did think there was a possibility I might not make it. But I did and I’m living my dream. I’m just so glad that things turned out well