‘The bravest of the brave’ – partners and friends open up about the moment those closest to them were diagnosed with mouth cancer

Latest figures reveal there are more than 7,800 new cases of mouth cancer in the United Kingdom a year. The number of diagnoses has increased by more than two-thirds (68 per cent) in the last 20 years, with experts projecting a further rise of a third (33 per cent) by 2035.

It means a growing number of us may know somebody who has been given the news that they have mouth cancer.

With November’s Mouth Cancer Action Month, a charity campaign which aims to raise awareness about the disease, coming to an end, family and friends discuss the devastating affect mouth cancer can have on a person’s life.

On Boxing day ten years ago, Tim Parson’s wife Rachel was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Tim, a firefighter from Coventry, recalls the day his wife gave him the life-changing news that had an effect on the whole family.

Tim says, “People say firefighters save lives and are brave but I didn’t feel very brave when I got the phone call from my wife to tell me she had mouth cancer.