'Sol is very up and down - because there is so much uncertainty for the future'

A 27-YEAR-OLD man dismissed the persistent lump on his leg as nothing more than an old car accident injury - but it ended up developing into one of the country's rarest cancers.

- By GARY PORTER

Sol Getcheffsky is currently being treated for Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS) a condition so uncommon that it affects just six people annually in England.

The cancer has silently spread from his thigh to his brain, lungs, and spleen over the six years he avoided medical attention. Sol ignored family advice to get the lump checked out. But in the summer of 2023, Sol started having severe headaches which progressively worsened over a couple of months.

Alongside this, he experienced strange sensations, changes in his vision and loss of use in his right arm and hand.

He went to see his GP and after a series of investigations, MRI and CT scans and biopsies, he was diagnosed with ASPS in November 2023.