Rhys Russell was a football-obsessed teenager who adored all things Manchester City and on March 15, 2025, he sadly died from melanoma skin cancer, and his family want to make his last wish come true
A teenage boy died of melanoma skin cancer aged 18 after his curly hair made it almost impossible to spot that something was wrong.
Rhys Russell was diagnosed with melanoma on his scalp in November 2021 and tragically passed away in March of this year. Just 10 minutes before taking his final breath, he fondly watched back of a video from meeting Jack Grealish, his favourite footballer.
The courageous youngster told his family of his final wish, which was to have his ashes scattered at the memorial garden at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. His family, struggling for money after paying for his funeral, have now started a GoFundMe page to help make Rhys’ wish come true.
Oli Russell, Rhys’ stepdad, 38, a student nurse, and his mum, Lauren, 37, a community nurse, spoke exclusively to the Daily Mirror to help raise awareness about melanoma, the fifth most common type of cancer, with around 17,500 diagnoses of melanoma skin cancer a year in the UK.
Symptoms
Before the shock diagnosis, Oli and Lauren, who are based in Cornwall, said: “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.”
They asked Rhys was it bleeding, which it was, but there had been no obvious cause.
Oli said it looked like a tick and he remembered: “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.”
As for being almost impossible to spot, Lauren added: “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.”
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can spread throughout the body, is a new mole or change in an existing mole – and they can appear anywhere. Usually, they are more common in areas exposed to the sun. Melanoma is also more likely to impact older people and is rare for someone of Rhys’ age.
Diagnosis
He was diagnosed with melanoma of the scalp in November 2021, before being told it was stage four one year later. Melanoma is a deadly cancer and is responsible for over 20,000 deaths a year in the UK.
Over three years, Rhys had cancer targeted therapy and radiotherapy, but on January 17, things took a devastating turn. Bravely opening up about it, the Lauren told us: “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.”
Before discussing what happened next, Oli pleaded with others: “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.”
Last wish
Oli was told on his birthday that Rhys had just weeks to live. The parents then made a promise to make every moment left with Rhys as memorable as possible.
Rhys, who loved playing football in the garden with his brothers Peter, 17, Conor, 15, and Jayden, 11, was able to meet Jack Grealish via Zoom thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation.
Oli said: “Ten minutes before he passed away, he watched… we did it through a Zoom meeting, and then minutes before he died, he watched the Jack Grealish video again. And then he passed away.”
Recalling the meeting itself, he said: “It was amazing. It was surreal. Jack was a lovely bloke and took time to speak to him and show him around and he was really nice. He sent him a signed shirt as well. Just thanking him for being his number one fan and to keep being brave – and we have that framed on the wall.”
Oli and Lauren had to have an unimaginable conversation with Rhys to tell him he had weeks to live. And it was here when Rhys, showing immense fortitude, spoke of his final wishes.
His stepdad said: “He was quite pragmatic and he said, ‘I want to be cremated and I want my ashes scattered at the memorial garden at Man City.’ We said we would make it happen for him.”
Rhys went to a City game in October 2023 where his team beat Brighton 2-1 – and the memorial garden they saw on the visit stuck with him.
And speaking about the GoFundMe, Oli said: “Because there are five of us, and we would be travelling to Manchester and staying and everything, we haven’t got the money to do it, especially after paying for the funeral and everything. A few people suggested a GoFundMe to help us get there.”
You can make a donation to Oli and Lauren’s GoFundMe page here
