A TEACHER said he felt ‘empty’ and ‘abandoned’ after he suffered from erectile dysfunction following his treatment for prostate cancer.

Martin Wells, from Burnley, had to undergo a ‘radical’ health treatment after he was initially diagnosed with localised prostate cancer in 2007.

Following his two-and-a-half year radiotherapy treatment and hormone suppression therapy, Mr Wells suffered erectile dysfunction as a side effect.

The 64-year-old, who works as a learning facilitator, said he felt ‘empty’ and ‘abandoned’ during his four-year long battle of ‘sexual dysfunction’ in his body.

He said: “It was the psychosocial part that I struggled with and I was not offered the emotional and intellectual support I needed from the hospital.

“The truth is, no one wants to talk about erections and erectile dysfunction.

“I had to knock on doors and make every effort to get the treatment I needed. I found if I didn’t put the energy in, I wouldn’t get anything out.

“The NHS provided me with brilliant treatment in terms of my surgery and radiotherapy, but in terms of living with the side effects, I felt quite empty and abandoned.”

Mr Wells discovered there was a service at Blackpool and Lancashire Sexual Health Services on psychosexual health and there was one person to deliver that for the whole of the county.

Since he used the service, in 2011, Mr Wells said he has found ‘positivity’ in his life again.

He added: “It was extremely good to actually talk to somebody who could speak to me on my terms.

“By pushing through and exploring other possibilities with my sex life, I actually discovered I could really enjoy something I hadn’t enjoyed before and that was sensuality.

“I learnt not just to be positive in my head, but to be positive in my heart.”

He has called on people to raise money for next month’s Manchester March.

Hundreds of walkers will ‘March for Men’ at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK on June 10.

Mr Wells, a keen supporter of the event, said he hopes the money will be spent towards more research and support for the ‘psychosocial’ side of prostate cancer.