England wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings reveals he had undergone skin cancer surgery last year

Sam Billings had undergone surgery last year in October to remove a mole from his chest.

England wicket-keeper Sam Billings has shocked the world with one of his Instagram posts and interview with The Telegraph. Billings has revealed that he had undergone surgery last year in October to remove skin cancer from his chest. Billings also warned fellow cricketers against the danger of exposure to the sun while playing cricket. He recalled that a skin cancer screening was organised by his county team Kent, and he had gone for a checkup where a mole was removed for a further test, which later turned out to be melanoma. Melanoma is a tumour of melanin-forming cells. 

Billings recalled his experience

Later on, another procedure was done to remove an area where the mole was. Billings revealed that it was challenging for him mentally more than physically. Billings in the interview said, “It’s a full body screening where they look at every mole. There was one on my chest, by no means the biggest mole on my body, but the doctor said this doesn’t look great. They decided to have it removed so they could take a look at it”. Two weeks later he got a call from the hospital saying that Melanoma was on the threshold of getting serious. 

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Billings further added that he could not sleep well that night. Billings said "Dr. Andy told me that I had melanoma that was 0.6 mm deep. He also said that at 0.7 mm deep, this becomes a serious condition". Billings added, “ If I had left that screening to go to the meeting, and waited for six months… it could have been far, far more serious”. Billings also made an Instagram post warning others about skin cancer. He posted, “We are pretty blasé when it comes to using suncream on, but it really has to change”.