NEED TO KNOW
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Grant Learmont, 40, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer after initially experiencing minor back and hip pain
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The cancer has spread to his spine, pelvis, ribs, and other areas, causing bone disease and requiring aggressive treatment
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Learmont is sharing his story to raise awareness that prostate cancer can affect younger people and may present with subtle symptoms
A construction worker was diagnosed with prostate cancer and given just years to live after having few symptoms.
Grant Learmont — 40-year-old from Dumfries, Scotland — was always an active dad of two. He played football, ran half marathons and owned his own building business. In January 2026, he started experiencing a stiff back and hips and went to visit a doctor. But the symptoms were brushed off as simple “aches and pains.”
“The doctor, as along with me, thought it was maybe just muscular in my back — with my building and football,” he told Southwest News Service. “We both thought it was muscular, it made sense.”
Learmont was sent to a physiotherapist and given exercises to perform for the following few weeks. However, by early February the pain shifted from his back and hips to his chest.
“If I was sitting up in bed, or I took a big deep breath in, it was really sore, so I ended up phoning the doctor back,” he recalled.
Grant Learmont working as a builder
Credit: SWS
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After undergoing testing, Learmont’s doctor informed him that there were “abnormalities” in his blood, and he was sent for CT scan. Shortly after, he received devastating news.
On Valentine’s Day, Learmont was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. Additionally, the cancer had caused bone disease in his spine, pelvis and left hip.
“I was totally confused, I had absolutely no symptoms — going to the toilet has been absolutely fine, any other symptom — not a thing,” he said. “Just a slight bit of pain in the weeks leading up to it, and that was it.”
Further scans revealed that Learmont’s cancer had also spread to his collarbones, ribs, and sternum.
He said the news was “unimaginable” for his family — wife Kirsten, daughter Tilly, 19, and son Shaw, 17.
“As you can imagine me and Kirsten have been through every emotion imaginable devastation, shock, anger, why me??? To now let’s get on with it and hit it head on!” he wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Grant Learmont with his wife and children
Credit: SWS
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Starting mid-April, Learmont will begin “triplet therapy,” consisting of a hormone injection, oral hormones and chemotherapy. Doctors told him the treatment could allow him to live for another four to 10 years. However, his condition is uncertain.
“They don’t know — it’s a needle in a haystack,” he told the outlet.
Learmont said he’s now sharing his story to raise awareness of prostate cancer and how it can occur in younger people.
“For years this has been seen as a disease that older people get, in their 60s and 70s. I’m proof in the pudding it can happen to younger people,” he said.
“Especially because I’m in the building trade, loads of builders and joiners are always moaning about aches and pains. I want to raise awareness — if you’ve got a constant pain or you’re feeling sore, go and get checked out.”
Read the original article on People
