A Labour MP today fought back tears while appearing on live TV to discuss his skin cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda in Wales, was told he had melanoma after his husband, Jared Cranney, noticed a mole on the back of his head after a haircut.
In an tear-jerking interview with Sky News this afternoon, Mr Bryant, 57, called his partner a 'star' and said he now doesn't feel ill 'at all'.
He also revealed how strangers point at his scars on the train and how his diagnosis left him feeling 'cold' and convinced he would die.
Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda in Wales, revealed how he felt 'cold' and convinced he would die when he was diagnosed with skin cancer
Mr Bryant recently had the cancer removed from the back of his head and has been left with large scars on his scalp from the surgery.
In an interview with Sky journalist, Kay Burley, he revealed how his doctor, when examining it, told him the mole on his head was 'quite thick', and how he was filled with terror when told it was advanced cancer.
Just more than a week after his consultation he returned to the hospital – Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil – to get his test results.
'This is one of the things I'd say to anybody,' he said. 'Take somebody with you when getting your test results.'
Mr Bryant said 'you can't hear yourself' when you the doctor tells you the results, because of the shock – even if it's good news.
He was told he had a stage 3B melanoma, an advanced form of a cancer which typically grows on the skin but can spread to other parts of the body.
The disease affects around 13,500 people in the UK each year, and more than 2,000 people die of it annually, according to the NHS.
As Mr Bryant took a moment to compose himself, Ms Burley urged studio staff to get him a cup of tea.
Mr Bryant needed part of his scalp removed and replaced with a skin graft. He said he was afraid the cancer would have spread throughout his body but further tests found it hadn't
Mr Bryant fought back tears in the emotional interview as he told Sky News journalist, Kay Burley, about the impact his cancer diagnosis had on him and his partner, Jared Cranney
Mr Bryant then continued, saying ‘it feels like being punched in the stomach’.
He added: ‘I know I’m not anybody special, hundreds and hundreds of people go through this all the time. There will be people having this exactly today...
‘I have no choice [but to talk about it] because it's so obvious. People point
