A man has been diagnosed with stage four cancer after his hairdresser encouraged him to get an unusual mole checked out.
Nicholas Smithson, 38, from Queensland, Australia, first noticed the black mole growing on the back of his neck in late 2021.
He then went to see multiple doctors who examined the mole and assured him that there was nothing to worry about even after it grew to the size of a pea and started to scab.
Nearly three months later, his hairdresser, Vicki, raised grave concerns and urged him to go and see a skin specialist who took his biopsy immediately.
The results from the man's appointment at the clinic showed that the growth was a nodular melanoma - which is an aggressive form of skin cancer - and that it had spread beyond the dark mole and to his lymph nodes.
According to Healthline, Nodular melanomas can scatter across other parts of the body in as little as three months if not treated quickly.
After the revelation, Nicholas was driven to Brisbane where he had a bilateral neck dissection - which is a 10-hour operation to remove the lymph nodes in the neck.
Eleven days later, he then noticed another growth behind his ear which led to a Positron emission tomography (PET) scan that revealed his organs were also affected by the cancer.
Sadly, after many hospital appointments, Nicholas was officially diagnosed with stage four melanoma and was given just six months left to live.
Nicholas revealed to 7News's Sunrise that since the doctor informed him of his cancer diagnosis, each day has been a tough battle for him.
"Mentally... I have my days where I’m OK and then there are other days where I’m very manic, and I am reaching out to friends for support, it’s all just a bit overwhelming," he said.
His friends have started a GoFundMe for his travel expenses to help him "kick off his bucket list" before he dies. Thus far, they have raised over $30,230 in donations after setting a $45,000 goal.
"Nicko has expressed that he would like to do as much traveling as possible while he still can," the page read. "Those of you who do not know Nicko, he is a kind, generous human being with a beautiful soul."
His friend Jamie Humble told Sunrise that he "didn’t know how to help" Nicholas after finding out about his cancer diagnosis and decided that creating the GoFundMe page was the best way to help him achieve his final goals.
"We thought we'd help him achieve his bucket list and his goals of traveling, and the only way we knew how was to start this GoFundMe page," he said.
"But we also started it to help raise awareness to others, to go get your skin checked, because these things, they creep up onto you," Jamie added.
Nicholas shared that among traveling to other countries being on his bucket list, he also wants to have some outdoor adventures in his last few months.
"On my bucket list, I’d love to go to Dubai and Japan, New Zealand, I’ve got a fair few things that I’d like to do... like the mega swing, and do a bit of skydiving," he added.