A man struggling to come to terms with his breast cancer diagnosis was dealt a further blow after a close relative laughed at him.
John, 41, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in August – and has found the news very hard to come to terms with.
According to charity Against Breast Cancer, around 390 men are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK, compared to 55,000 women.
His wife has also struggled and recently been diagnosed with depression while trying to support her husband.
They recently decided to share it with their family – but it went very differently from how they had anticipated ahead of the meeting.
Writing on Reddit, the woman wrote: “It has been very hard for us. John had difficulty accepting the diagnosis as he can’t believe a man can have this type of cancer.
So after dinner, when John told everyone his diagnosis, both our parents empathised and offered their support to us.
“My mother-in-law was crying and me and John comforted her. My younger sister (Judy, 26) made a joke, she said, ‘Maybe the cancer cells got confused because you have huge man boobs.’
“Dad called her out and I took her to the kitchen. I told her she was being insensitive and cruel to make a joke about my husband.
“She said I am blowing it out of proportion as she was just trying to lighten the mood. I got angry with her because instead of apologizing, she made excuses and called me too sensitive.
“I told her to get out of my house and I won’t be talking to her anymore unless she apologised to me and especially to John.”
People were outraged on her behalf, with one commenting: “Her joke is not a joke and the fact that that was her first reaction to finding out he has cancer is worrisome. I would not take her back after an apology. She can suck it.”
“One does not brighten the mood by joking about cancer. Jokes at all are entirely likely to be tone-deaf to the situation,” blasted another.