Producer gets mole removed after Sun Safe campaign

Mitchell Barwell was urgently referred for surgery to remove a pigmented lesion on his back

A radio producer has been given the all-clear from skin cancer after being advised to get his mole checked as part of a campaign launched by a former radio presenter.

Mitchell Barwell was working at a BBC Radio Derby Sun Safe event as part of a campaign in memory of presenter Colin Bloomfield, who lost his life to melanoma in 2015.

Mr Barwell decided to get his skin checked out at the event and has since had a mole on his back removed after a dermatologist had concerns over its appearance.

Results showed the mole was "benign in nature with no features of malignancy”, said the 27-year-old.

'Huge relief'

Mr Barwell said he had no concerns about the mole on his back before he had it checked.

He added: "I was never concerned at all. I don't go out in the sun, really.

"I'll go abroad occasionally and go in the pool, but if I do go in the sun, I'll have sun cream on.

"I have quite a lot of moles on my back, but they've been checked before and I was told they were fine."

Mr Barwell said the procedure to remove the mole "was not that painful".

"I had a couple of injections to numb the region and then removed a 10mm by 7mm area of skin and then they stitched me back up," he added.

"The mole itself was 8mm by 5mm which is why they were initially concerned about it.

"It did start to hurt a little bit, but to be honest, it wasn't that painful.

"I think it's absolutely worth it in the end."

Mr Barwell says he is grateful for the campaign in memory of Colin

Mr Barwell said he had to wait six weeks until he received his results from the NHS.

He said: "When I saw it I was just so relieved that it was all fine and all OK.

"It was a massive relief, a huge relief."

Before Colin Bloomfield's death on 25 April 2015, the 33-year-old spearheaded a project, with help from the Nottinghamshire-based charity Skcin, to try to prevent similar cases.

It resulted in 479 people having their skin checked by experts, more than 100 of whom were sent for further tests.

After having his mole removed, Mr Barwell has told people to "never take anything for granted" and to wear sun cream more often.

"You can't ever think that age won't affect you with anything," he said.

"I've now started applying even more sun cream than I probably would initially.

"Even on days when it was raining, I still had some cream on because I was thinking the UV rays are still coming through."

Mr Barwell is hoping his story will encourage more people to get their skin checked.

He added: "If it helps someone else, just go and get checked, whether it be something they're concerned about or not, even for one person, then I've done the job that I wanted to do."