By Liam McInerney

Copyright mirror

The heartbroken parents of an 18-year-old boy who tragically died are keeping his memory alive. Rhys Russell was just 15 when a chance discovery led to him being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer on his scalp. It is the fifth most common type of cancer and it causes around 2,300 deaths in the UK each year. Rhys’ stepdad, Oli Russell, and his mum, Lauren, spoke exclusively with the Mirror in May to reveal how their boy’s curly hair made it almost impossible to spot something was amiss. They also spoke about the positive impact Jack Grealish had on their son before his death. And in an update, Oli, a student nurse, has now told us his application to run the London Marathon for next year has been accepted. He said: “I wanted to do something, not only to honour Rhys’ memory, but to thank Young Lives vs Cancer for all their support. “I want to raise awareness and as much money as I possibly can to help young people like Rhys who are fighting their own fight and I can’t think of a better way to do it than by running one of the world ’s most famous marathons.” Speaking about the time they realised something may be wrong, community nurse Lauren previously told us: “It was really weird because he went to get in the shower and I don’t know if it was the light or whatever but we noticed like a red patch on his head.” Oli recalled how it looked like a tick and how Rhys confirmed that it was bleeding after they asked him. The stepdad, who lives in Cornwall with Lauren and Rhys’ younger brothers Peter, Conor and Jayden, added: “Rhys told us, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve had that for ages, it bleeds sometimes but I’ve never said anything because it doesn’t hurt.’ We decided to go to the doctors to get it taken off – and it all kind of spiralled from there really.” Lauren also said it was incredibly difficult to see, explaining: “Yeah, because he had quite thick curly hair and it just looked like a mole. It was really bizarre. It was only because of the bleeding at the time, otherwise we wouldn’t have known for god knows how long. He must have known because he said it bled whenever he knocked or scratched his hair.” Melanoma skin cancer can spread throughout different areas of the body and the NHS state how the main symptom is a mole or a change in an existing mole. It is rare for someone as young as Rhys to be diagnosed and it usually impacts areas exposed to the sun. Rhys, a huge Manchester City fan, received his devastating diagnosis on November 21 and just one year later the family was told it was stage four. Cancer Research UK suggests 86% of skin cancer cases are preventable and there are more than 17,500 new cases of it every year in the UK. Rhys had targeted therapy and radiotherapy to fight the deadly disease but Lauren explained how everything changed on January 17. She said: “He was just in absolute agony and by that time he was on fentanyl patches. He was rolling around on the floor in agony and we took him to hospital. They did X-rays and CT scans and that is when they found it had spread to his liver, possibly one on his heart, one in his left lung, two in his right lung, and multiple all over his back. There were actually two halfway up his ribcage. It was just horrendous.” And urging readers to speak up if they believe something may be wrong, Oli added: “Just talk about it. I think there is a big misconception that people think melanoma is something old leather handbag people get because of how you are in the sun constantly and that is not always the case. It can be a genetic thing as well. “If there is anything you notice on your body, even if it sounds trivial, just talk to someone about it and get checked because going through what we went through, especially in those last weight weeks, watching him waste away, literally not be able to walk, going into a wheelchair and be bedbound, and because the tumour was in his brain as well, it affected his behaviour. “It is just… it is just surreal. But we are here now. We are trying to do what we can to help other people. My wife is a community nurse and I am a student nurse and I think we are both taking this as to learn from it and take it forward and help people. If we can spread awareness to even one person, then it will save them hopefully going through what we have.” Just 10 minutes before Rhys took his final breath in March, he watched a video where he met his idol Jack Grealish on Zoom, and his final wish was to have his ashes scattered at the Manchester City memorial garden. Oli, who joked that he could “barely run up the stairs”, is now running a marathon in memory of Rhys, and to make a donation to his page, you can do so here .