A father is backing a campaign which calls for better awareness of oesophageal cancer.

Bruce Millar visited his GP about difficulties swallowing in February last year, and he was initially given indigestion tablets.

He said: “I could feel the food wasn’t getting into my stomach and like it was getting blocked. It was uncomfortable.”

Three months later when he started to lose weight, bleed from his bowel and feel bloated, he was referred to surgeon James Gossage at the London Bridge Hospital, who diagnosed him with stage two of the disease.

Symptoms, which also include throat pain and a persistent cough, can commonly be mistaken for heartburn or indigestion in the early stages.

“When they said ‘you’ve got cancer’, it was the most horrific moment in my life"- Bruce Millar

Death rates are therefore high because many patients are diagnosed at a late stage.

The married dad-of-three is now backing an NHS initiative which aims to reduce deaths from this type of illness by encouraging people to visit their doctor if they have heartburn most days for three weeks or more.

Mr Millar, who lives in Chalky Road, Stockbury, said: “I’m lucky to be alive, so I’m passionate about raising awareness about this disease.

“When they said ‘you’ve got cancer’, it was the most horrific moment in my life.

“It was like ‘you must have got me mixed up with someone else’.

“If people are aware of the symptoms, hopefully they can be treated early and their life saved.”

Luckily, the service account executive’s tumour had not perforated the stomach lining, and was therefore operable.

He also underwent several weeks of chemotherapy before and after surgery, which took place in September.

He has since been given the all-clear, and after almost 10 months off work, he is due to return to Hitachi Data Systems next week.

The 57-year-old praised the company for standing by him in his darkest hour.

He said: “They have been fantastic and took a lot of the stress away. It’s life-changing.

“I didn’t have tubes or bags, but I’ve lost massive amounts of weight.

“I’ve only got a third of my stomach left. I’ve also got no oesophagus.

“I had private medical insurance but that’s not to say the NHS wouldn’t have done just as good a job.”