Former Super League champion and three-time Challenge Cup winner Mickey Higham shares his thoughts on stage four cancer with Jenna Brooks and Jon Wilkin in the latest episode of The Bench podcast.
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Super League star Mickey Higham is this week's guest on The Bench with Jenna and John.
Former Super League star Mickey Higham has revealed he has been diagnosed with stage four cancer and says he will “face it head on”.
Higham, who played for Leigh, St Helens, Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves, was initially diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in November 2022.
After surgery and immunotherapy, he was given a certificate of complete recovery, but in June of this year he was informed that the cancer had returned in an aggressive form.
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Former Super League star Mickey Higham is this week's guest on The Bench with Jenna and John.
“I was just doing some weight training in the gym,” Higham revealed on the latest episode of Sky Sports' Bench With Jenna and John podcast.
“For some reason, it felt like something was pushing on my chest and I felt a little lump. Men often say, 'It's okay, it's just a little lump.' I just didn't pay attention to it.
“Then I left it alone for a few weeks. It got a little bigger. My wife said, 'Just go and get it checked.' I reluctantly went to the doctor. I told him I had a lump and he suggested it was probably from playing rugby.
“Before I left, he asked me one question: ‘Does it wake you up at night or something?’ I said: ‘Sometimes it just hurts a little at night.’
“He said, 'OK, I'll send you for an ultrasound, just to be sure.' I'm really glad he did because that's when I first discovered the melanoma. I thought it was in my breast but it was actually in a lymph node under my arm. I went to St Helens Hospital and they took it all out and there was no more cancer.”
Pictured: Higham is considered a Super League legend for Leigh.
However, two years later the cancer has returned and the former Super League champion is hoping to receive treatment abroad after being told he will not be able to take part in a clinical trial in the UK.
He shared his second diagnosis: “I had arthritis in my big toe and the pain was unbearable. I eventually had surgery and had it fused.”
“When you have surgery, you have to wear uncomfortable shoes, so I was walking awkwardly. And then, after about two or three weeks, my foot just started hurting.
“I thought, 'Oh, I must be overexerting myself. I'm walking on the good leg.' Again, like always, I was just doing what I was doing because I could stand it. I thought I was overexerting my right leg. One day, when I was driving, I thought, 'I'm going to stop, this is going to kill me.' I sprained it.
“I left it for a few more weeks. For some reason, I just felt my right buttock and found a small knot there
Sourse: skysports.com
