A STUDENT diagnosed with cancer twice in six months is celebrating after finally receiving the all-clear.

At just 21-years-old Sean Tighe has undergone more hospital treatment than most people will receive in their lifetime.

Diagnosed with testicular cancer, the MA marketing student has a message for all men.

He said: “I just want them to make sure they are regularly checking themselves and reporting anything suspicious to a doctor.”

Mr Tighe, of Newcastle, first noticed an issue when he was in his final year as an undergraduate.

Recognising there was a hardening of one of his testicles, Mr Tighe went for a check-up at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

“They carried out a few different tests then, a couple of days later, I got a phone call asking me to come into the hospital,” said Mr Tighe.

In March last year, the student was told he had a tumour and he would have to undergo an operation.

“I was 20-years-old and panic set in. I just felt pure fear, as soon as you hear the word tumour, it just makes you afraid.

“They didn’t say cancer, but I knew straight away that’s what it was.”

At the beginning of April, Mr Tighe underwent an operation and doctors were positive that he would make a recovery.

He said: “Three weeks after the operation, I was back at the university and getting into my studies.”

Attending regular check-ups, Mr Tighe was recovering well for the first few months.

More tests followed and in September, just as the student was preparing to start his masters, doctors at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital broke the heartbreaking news that a tumour had been discovered in his chest.

Cells had travelled up into the student’s chest and another tumour had started to form.

Nine weeks of chemotherapy followed, which finally finished at the end of last year.

Then, a week before Christmas, he got the news he had been waiting for after receiving the all-clear.

He said: “My specialist nurse from the Freeman rang to tell me that the last trace of cancer had gone – that I was all-clear.

“Now that I look back on what happened, I’m just grateful that I managed to cope with it all so well. There were so many other young people on the hospital wards who were struggling.

“I just feel grateful.”

The youngster is now back to his studies and is on course to graduate in the Autumn.

He said: “Men should be, and need to be, aware of the importance of checking themselves.

“Since this happened to me, I’ve had friends on the phone asking about symptoms and questioning me – which is good.

“I can only hope something positive comes from everything that’s happened.”