Liposarcoma diagnosis: How Matthew Cameron-Glaze discovered the lump on his leg was an aggressive cancer

A New Zealand firefighter is facing the toughest battle of his life after being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.

Matthew Cameron-Glaze, 38, a firefighter with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, was training in Dubai last year when he noticed a lump on the back of his leg.

At first, he thought it was just muscle gain but, over the next few weeks, it began to grow rapidly, doubling in size until it was 20cm wide.

When he returned to New Zealand, the lump was diagnosed as liposarcoma.

Sarcoma is an aggressive cancer that develops in bone, cartilage or soft tissue. One in three people diagnosed with the illness dies within the next five years.

The Auckland-based father had never heard of the term sarcoma, and delayed visiting a doctor because he thought cancer could develop only on organs.

“It was quite a shock, and I really didn’t know what to think.”

When he received the news, he reached “a mental state of preparing for death”.

During his time as a firefighter, he has faced extreme conditions, but being diagnosed with sarcoma has been his “toughest battle”.

“You don’t have control and [the cancer] is gonna do what it wants to do.”

He has since had surgery to remove the cancer and some of the muscle in his leg. As a result, he can no longer be a firefighter and is now working in administration.

He said the diagnosis had left his young children feeling confused and that he was doing all he could to support them, but it had made him feel more helpless.

“For them to not have their father around as active as they remembered before I went away is pretty tough, and so there’s been a lot more cuddles.”

The effects on his mental health were detrimental and, while he was “a really positive and energetic people-person”, the treatment was extremely isolating.

“There were a lot of times where I felt like there was no one around me when, in actual fact, I had a huge support network, and I just didn’t see it.”

He has urged those who have others in their lives going through something similar to reach out, and says that sometimes it’s just a matter of keeping them company.

He wants his story to raise awareness of this “hidden” cancer, saying “more people need to know about it. A lump isn’t just a lump, it can be cancerous and it can kill you”.