Family of Scottish teenager with rare skin cancer vows to find a cure
Nineteen year-old Charlie Watson found out a fortnight ago he has stage four nodular malignant melanoma.
Last updated 12th Aug 2024
The parents of a Scottish teenager battling a rare form of skin cancer are promising to do everything they can to help find a cure for the disease.
Nineteen year-old Charlie Watson lives near Lockerbie and was told he has nodular malignant melanoma last year after discovering a mole on his abdomen.
Just two weeks ago, doctors told him it has since spread to his liver and lungs and that it is now at stage four.
He told Forth 1: "I discovered a mole on my lower abdomen last year and didn't think much of it until it started to grow.
"It became annoying and was catching on my football tops and I went to get it checked out."
At first doctors were not concerned that the mole was particularly unusual and removed it before sending it away for testing.
One day last October, Charlie was at work when he got a call to say the it had been cancerous and he had to go for a CT scan and a further excision around where the mole had been removed.
Charlie added: "I am going for immunotherapy which leaves me feeling tired.
"Going to hospital is draining and nobody likes spending time there."
His mum Amanda has been recalling the moment the family was told the cancer has spread.
"I felt like I was going to pass out, the world was moving but our world completely stopped.
"I was trying so hard to keep it together and not get upset for Charlie's sake.
"It was the most helpless feeling and I would swap places with him in a heartbeat if I could."
At the moment there are no cures for this type of skin cancer nor are there any ongoing clinical trials.
The family has started a fundraiser to raise as much money as possible to go towards research.
Amanda added: "All we can do is try to fundraise which feels insignificant because it is no value to anybody's life.
"If we find a cure, we are not just curing Charlie we are curing others and that would be amazing.
"There are no other options, Charlie not being here is not an option."
You can donate to the fundraiser for Charlie here.