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Aussie tradie's tragic diagnosis after hairdresser's deadly find

An Aussie tradie has been given just six months to live after a hairdresser spotted a worrying growth on his neck.

Nicholas ‘Nicko’ Smithson, 38, from Rockhampton, Queensland, said the local hairdresser urged him to get the spot checked immediately, despite previously being given the all-clear by two doctors.

"The hairdresser basically said the growth on your neck doesn’t look good, it looks cancerous, you need to go see a skin specialist straight after this," he told Channel 7's Sunrise.

"I saw two GPs and even after it was doubling in size they had told me it was all good."

But that was sadly not the case.

Nicholas ‘Nicko’ Smithson, who has been given six months to live after being diagnosed with stage four melanoma.
Queensland man, Nicholas 'Nicko' Smithson, has been given six months to live after being diagnosed with stage four melanoma. Source: GoFundMe

Heeding the hairdresser's advice, Mr Smithson visited a skin specialist who diagnosed the 38-year-old with stage four melanoma and later gave him just six months to live.

The tradie said when he received the devastating diagnosis, he and his partner "just cried" and "hugged each other", The Morning Bulletin reports.

Mr Smithson — who was offered his dream job as an apprentice boilermaker just hours before the heartbreaking news — has now vowed to make the most of life while he can and "have some fun".

His partner, family and friends are helping him tick off his bucket-list items, raising more than $25,300 on a GoFundMe created by his good friend Jamie Humble and her mum Claudette.

"On my bucket list, I’d love to go to Dubai and Japan, New Zealand, I’ve got a fair few things that I’d like to do, like the mega swing, and do a bit of skydiving," Mr Smithson told Sunrise.

The 38-year-old has been described as a "kind, generous human being with a beautiful soul".

"Nicko initially did not want this GoFundMe to happen, but the only way to tick his goals was to help support his dream of doing some travel, and without the support of those around him, this is not possible," the GoFundMe reads.

"Although Nicko has been given a terminal diagnosis, we hope he can fight and win his war against cancer.

"We do not know what the future has in store, so we want to ensure Nicko can have this experience."

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