‘My harmless birthmark is now rare aggressive cancer’

Jonathan Muggleton was a teenager when he first became aware of a small mark on his body. “I didn’t think much of it at first,” the 49-year-old father of two told The Independent. “It was just a birthmark.”

- JESSICA BENJAMIN

But five years ago, the mark started to change in appearance, becoming velvety in texture and weeping. Sensing something was wrong, he visited his GP and was prescribed a cream.

But as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, Mr Muggleton's discomfort increased and he was referred for a biopsy in late 2020. This was when he said he had an “inkling” that it could be something more serious.

“When I heard ‘biopsy’, I started to read between the lines. In the back of my mind, I feared the worst and hoped for the best,” he said.

Mr Muggleton was told by doctors that he had mucosal melanoma, a form of cancer. His case was extremely rare, with only 150 to 250 people diagnosed per year in the UK, according to the charity Melanoma Focus.

It is also highly aggressive, with only 14 per cent of people with mucosal melanoma surviving beyond five years, according to researchers at Melanoma Management.

Due to the hospital’s Covid-19 policy, Mr Muggleton was completely alone when he was given the prognosis. He remembers walking back to his wife, Rebecca, in the car in a stunned silence. “We just sat in the car. I couldn’t speak. It was not a very nice five minutes,” he said. Having recently turned 45 and a father to two young children, Mr Muggleton said he felt as though a rug had been pulled from under him. He was also unsure how much information to share with his children, Charlie and Amelia, who were five and seven at the time.

He said: “You either go into a very dark place and deal with it on your own, which I’ve seen friends do. But for me, I wanted to be open. Initially, it was very unfair, but then I moved to the point where I started to appreciate what I’ve got and focused on the things that really matter.”