HE was only 22 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer now York insurance salesman Paul Hayes is planning for the future after being given the all clear from the disease.

Paul, from the Leeman Road area of York, has decided to share his story to help other young men going through the same nightmare.

"Don't be afraid to go to the doctor and get checked out," he said. "It's a major worry for young lads, especially. There's a lot of stigma behind your family jewels!"

The intrepid 26-year-old completed the 85-mile coast-to-coast challenge along Hadrian's Wall to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Paul was diagnosed with the disease after his girlfriend noticed something was wrong and his GP referred him for a scan at York Hospital.

He believed he had missed the signs of cancer because the house in which he was living at the time only had a shower making checking for signs more difficult.

He described feeling "numb" when he was first told what might have been an innocent cyst was in fact cancer.

"Apparently, it had been there for quite some time," he said. "I just went into autopilot. The doctors were brilliant.

"I didn't know anything about testicular cancer. I didn't know anything about cancer. The best thing you can do with anything like that is learn about it, because it takes some of the fear away."

After surgery, the cancer was found to have spread to the lymph nodes in his stomach, which meant he had to undergo chemotherapy.

But, earlier this year, doctors finally gave Paul the all-clear and he now hopes to have children with girlfriend Anita.

"It was a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders," he said. "If this had happened 20 years ago, there's a good chance I wouldn't be here now. It's thanks to the research done by charities such as Cancer Research UK which means the word cancer is no longer such a big stigma."

As well as his coast-to-coast walk, Paul also supported Cancer Research UK by talking at an event in York, highlighting how much income is raised for the charity by legacies.

More than half the charity's income comes from supporters leaving gifts in their wills about £130 million a year and the money is vital to its research.

To find out more about leaving a gift in your will, phone Cancer Research's legacy information officer on 0207 121 6697, log on to the website www.cancerresearchuk.org/legacies or phone the regional fundraising office on 08701 602040.