THE family of a man who died just eight weeks after he was diagnosed with skin cancer have helped raise funds for a new mole mapping machine in his honour.

Ross Saxton-Davies died aged 27 after a mole which was previously thought to be ‘harmless’ turned out to be an aggressive form of skin cancer.

Ross, who was from Coggeshall, had the mole removed during a procedure at Colchester Hospital after first spotting it in 2015.

A biopsy revealed the mole had been malignant melanoma but Ross was then told it was actually a harmless, benign skin lesion during a follow up appointment at Broomfield Hospital.

However, he soon began to feel unwell and was rushed to hospital in November 2016 after collapsing when returning from a shift at the White Hart hotel in Coggeshall.

Doctors tragically diagnosed Ross with melanoma and further tests revealed it had spread to his stomach lining, lymph glands, liver and stomach aorta.

He was offered five-week treatment at Colchester Hospital but he and his family had to reject it after doctors admitted he was unlikely to live that long.

Ross’s condition continued to deteriorate and he died on January 25, 2017.

Medical records have since shown Ross’s mole was highlighted by doctors because it needed to be treated with extreme caution due to increased melanocytic activity.

Mum Tracy said: “It’s really difficult but I don’t blame anyone. I don’t think it would have changed the outcome it was really aggressive.

“He went into hospital and never came out. He deteriorated really rapidly, his body hadn’t the strength to fight it and he was gone. It was a massive shock.”

Following Ross’s death, mum Tracy and his family have made it their mission to raise awareness about skin cancer and how to deal with the death of a loved one.

The family has raised more than £9,000 for Melanoma UK and for a mole mapping machine at Colchester Hospital, which helps to detect skin cancer early.

Tracy has teamed up with Lisa Costello, who has skin cancer and is raising £30,000 for the machine.

Tracy has also set up a Facebook page called ‘Ending Life’s Taboo’ and hosts monthly meetings to try and get people to talk about death and dying.

She also wants to be able to provide counselling to people on end-of-life care.

“After Ross died, I felt like I had to do something,” she said. “I want to open the conversation about death and grief and I want people who are coming to the end of their life to be fully supported- they still matter.

“I have had experience of death with close relatives and I think it’s just made me feel like things should be different. You should be able to talk about your grief.

“I do think about Ross always and that will never go away. We all just miss him so much.

“He was a big character, he was larger than life, so many people loved him.”