England cricketer Sam Billings has revealed he underwent two operations to remove a malignant melanoma on his chest as he warned his fellow players about the risks of skin cancer.
Wicketkeeper Billings, 31, said his England team-mates were left shocked by his ‘gory and bloody’ six-inch scar and stitches when he removed his shirt in the changing rooms during last year’s white-ball tour of Australia.
He admits he was fortunate to have the skin cancer diagnosed during a routine screening at his county, Kent, before it developed into anything worse.
Billings recovered to play a full winter of cricket but is urging players at all levels of the game to make sure they apply suncream when they take the field.
On that moment in the England dressing room, he told the Daily Telegraph: ‘I had completely forgotten it was there! But I still had my stitches in and it was pretty gory, still bloody and healing. I think the boys were pretty shocked.
‘I’ve been that classic Brit abroad. As a 22-year-old with fairer hair in Australia thinking it was worth going a bit red to end up brown.
‘And at home you see it all the time, it gets to 12 degrees and sunny, all the tops come off. I didn’t think I’d be the guy who got skin damage. I hope people see my story and think twice.’
Billings almost skipped the skin cancer screening at Kent because there was a queue and he was running late for a meeting. It was only the intervention of the club’s head physio Dan George that persuaded the captain to hang around.
It revealed a mole on his upper chest that needed to be removed. Billings was told he had a melanoma that was 0.6mm deep, with the threshold of 0.7mm being when things can really get serious, and was immediately refereed for an operation.
‘I could see inside my own chest, which wasn’t very nice,’ he said. ‘At one point the anaesthetic didn’t work well so I was in huge pain.
‘I never realised how much your chest affects everything else. Just moving my arm was extremely painful. Mentally it was definitely more challenging than physically.’
In partnership with the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Lifejacket Skin Protection, Billings has warned club cricketers not to get sunburnt when they play.
‘We treat it [applying suncream] like a bit of a chore because the education around it isn’t as good as in countries like Australia,’ he added.
Billings isn’t the first top-level sportsman to reveal they have suffered from skin cancer.
The Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer revealed last year he required three operations to remove a tumour from his face.
Tennis star Angelique Kerber has also suffered from the sun-induced skin condition hyperpigmentation.
The lifelong condition, which can be easily treated, is caused by exposure to the sun and leads to spots or patches that look brown, black, grey, red or pink on the skin. (Daily Mail)