A TESTICULAR cancer survivor, who posed nude to raise awareness of the disease, is calling for more to be done to educate Wirral's young men.

Phil Morris from Oxton was one of five of the borough's lads to strip off for a national magazine after he was struck by the life-threatening condition.

By strange coincidence Phil and army pal Mick Riley from Wallasey, were diagnosed with testicular cancer within two years of each other and have now set up a website where sufferers can share stories and offer support.

Phil said: "When I was told I had to have a testicle removed, I went into a state of shock but when I turned to the internet I was just faced with scary fact-filled information sites.

"I just wanted somebody to talk to, or to hear how other people had coped but I found nothing."

Later that year, www.checkemlads.com was born and soon reached over 600,000 hits from across the world as millions of emails poured in from young men looking for help and advice.

The website features individual stories and forums, and teaches men to examine themselves.

And father-of-one Phil now travels the country visiting schools and army barracks to educate young men, one of which was Prince Harry.

"My journey through cancer has taken me far and wide and I am desperate to get the message out there as people aged 14-30 are most at risk.

"When I noticed that Cosmopolitan magazine featured an annual centre-fold where celebrities pose naked for a testicular cancer awareness campaign, I rung up and asked why they never use real survivors, after all, they are the real stars.

"Before I knew it I was rounding up five survivors and getting my kit off - it was terrifying but all for a good cause."

The feature will be published this June as Phil, who endured gruelling chemotherapy and battled through depression, fights to spread his message to other men.

Given the all clear, he now goes for regular check-ups but claims that doctors should be doing more to help catch the disease in the early stages.

"I have come across a lot of men who have gone to their doctors and been sent away with just antibiotics when it later turns out to be cancer.

"Testicular cancer needs to be caught as soon as possible as it spreads fast throughout the body.

"I am desperate to get into more schools and organisations to warn people - the talks I give are fun and light-hearted but with a serious life-saving message underneath."

For more information visit www.checkemlads.com or email Phil at philly@checkemlads.com.