'I've never smoked a day in my life – I never realised my persistent cough was lung cancer'

Doctors discovered non-smoker Dave Marcus had a major 7.8cm tumour, and was later diagnosed with lung cancer - seven months after he started coughing and was dismissed with a chest infection

A non-smoker whose persistent cough was dismissed as a chest infection was shocked to discover the reality was much worse.

Dave Marcus had suffered a hernia due to the constant coughing, and later needed surgery to have it removed. He was given antibiotics but still the cough persisted. It was only after getting a second opinion, doctors discovered he had a 7.8cm tumour and he was diagnosed with lung cancer - seven months after he started coughing.

Dave, 57, who was told he would be unable to have surgery if the mass was any bigger, said: "Even by this point, I wasn’t concerned about my cough. After the hernia operation, the cough had become quite mild. I’d cough occasionally through the day and night. It wasn’t aggressive, just persistent.

"If anything, it was more irritating than worrisome. It never felt ominous. I think that’s why lung cancer was never in my mind, and why would it be? I hadn’t smoked so why would I get lung cancer?"

Dave's partner Emelie was undergoing treatment for colon cancer at the time and insisted that he got a second opinion, after being told it was a chest infection. He spoke to a doctor through his work at healthcare company Teladoc Health, which led to his diagnosis in October this year.

Dave said: "This doctor took things much more seriously, especially given the length of time I had had this cough. He insisted I see a respiratory consultant. That’s when I got the biggest shock of my life."

Dave, of Knutsford, Cheshire, says he "unintentionally ignored" his cough because he's never smoked before. It’s a sobering thought to think how close things got. So much of that is down to the perception of lung cancer – or lack of understanding around this type of cancer. I was so focused on the fact that I had never smoked that I, unintentionally, ignored the clearest of warning signs – a persistent cough.

“But I wasn’t alone in this thinking. It wasn’t until I got that second opinion that lung cancer became a possibility. It’s definitely time we stop thinking about lung cancer in this way. I am proof that it can happen to anyone and catching it early means there’s life after lung cancer."

Dave is now supporting the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation's "Let Go of the Labels" campaign for lung cancer awareness month. The charity are calling for a stop to terms like smoker and never-smoker. Paula Chadwick, chief executive of the foundation, said: "We need to do everything we can to ensure everyone with lung cancer is diagnosed as quickly as possible.”

"Labels like ‘smoker’ and ‘never smoker’ can distort what’s really going on and stop people getting diagnosed earlier. It’s time to let go of these archaic labels. Lung cancer doesn’t see them and neither should we."