"I defied the odds after I was given eight weeks to live & got invited to bodybuilding world championships"

Denton Wilson was diagnosed with prostate cancer aged 42 in the late 1990s, when he was given the gut-wrenching news he had just weeks to live.

After smashing all medical expectations, the fitness enthusiast has dedicated his life to spreading awareness of prostate cancer.

He said: “I was given a second chance at life. Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than their white counterparts.

“So many men will be walking around not realising they have this disease.

“Having the right informaton helped me. A lot of men don’t have the right information and they are reluctant to go for tests.”

Denton has spent years travelling all over the UK talking about prostate cancer and ensuring others are aware of the risks it poses and the processes for getting it caught and treated.

He believes a big part of his miraculous recovery was his dedication to eating well and keeping fit. The bodybuilder said he is in the gym six days a week.

“I live in the gym,” he said. “I’m up early in the morning and I get to the gym about seven and I’m here until eight o’clock [in the evening].”

He isn’t working out the entire time he is there. Denton said he spends time helping others in the gym, but his dedication to his fitness has meant he is the top ‘Over 60s’ bodybuilder in Britain.

Now, he has been invited to the WNBF championships in Boston, USA, which he says is a huge opportunity to continue raising awareness of prostate cancer on a world stage.

He said: “So many men are dying needlessly because they have not got the right information and I’m trying to help them.”

The big barrier to Denton competing are the finances.

“I’m a pensioner,” he said. “It would be difficult to get over to Boston because I don’t have that kind of money.”

Denton has started a JustGiving page in hope of raising the £2,500 he needs to get to the US and compete.

“I feel like I have a calling to help as many men as I can,” he said. “We can beat this. We can survive this cancer. I’m living proof of that.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, according to Prostate Cancer UK. More than 52,000 are diagnosed in the UK every year - roughly 144 men every day.

One in eight men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. Every 45 minutes, a man in the UK dies from prostate cancer - more than 12,000 every year.

The NHS website states prostate cancer develops slowly, meaning there may be no signs for many years.

Denton’s father died from the disease when Denton was 42 - prompting him to get tests done, potentially saving his life.

Prostate cancer is more common in black men and less common in Asian men, but the reasons for this are not yet understood.

Find more information on prostate cancer, including symptoms and ways to test for it, check the NHS website.