A CHEF who was left jobless 24 hours after he was diagnosed with cancer has managed to turn his life around by getting in the boxing ring.

Dom Allen’s world came crashing down after he was told by doctors he had testicular cancer.

A day later the 25-year-old’s workplace, the Grill and Grain at the Boatyard in Riley Green, burnt down in April 2017.

This left the father-of-two unemployed and struggling to support his fiancée, Jade Beetham, who was on maternity leave with their young sons.

Mr Allen, from White Ash Lane in Oswaldtwistle, was forced to rely on credit cards and loans from friends to look after his family as he could not work for three months after his diagnosis because he required surgery to remove his right testicle.

Not wanting to give up, Mr Allen managed to get his life back on track after getting another job at the Nag’s Head pub in Preston and raising £600 for research by taking part in an Ultra White Collar Boxing event.

He said: “When I was diagnosed, it was really tough.

“My place of work had burned to the ground, so I had no job and two sons who were both one at home with my fiancée, with no money coming in for bills or food.

“The restaurant was our whole source of income.

“Having two one-year-olds in the house and no income was really difficult, and then I had to have surgery so my fiancée was looking after me too.

“But, by February I had married my fiancée and everything had started to come together again.

“Ultra White Collar Boxing gave me back my confidence after going through cancer and doing something I’d never done before was inspiring for me.”

Since the event Mr Allen married his fiancée, who had also worked at the restaurant as a waitress.

Mr Allen said: “I had really bad pain in my groin at work.

“I thought I had pulled a muscle, but I went to my GP, who said it might be an infection.

“I went to the hospital, where they said 'it’s possible you have testicular cancer'.

“I had to wait for the results of further tests, but the day after I was at the hospital I went to work and one of the customers said they could see flames coming up from the roof.

“The place was evacuated, but by the time the firefighters arrived the whole roof was on fire, and the building was burned to the ground within 30 minutes.

“Me and my fiancée had been engaged for years but we decided then we wanted to get married because you just don’t know how long life’s going to be.

“It wasn’t a massive wedding because we didn’t have loads of money.”

Mr Allen, avoided chemotherapy and has had clear scans since the surgery.

Mr Allen who fought earlier this year, could barely run a mile before he started his eight weeks of professional training and lost 11lbs in the process.

Mr Allen trained alongside his best friend, Ben Shorrock, 25, who supported him through his illness and even loaned him money, at Blackburn Predators Gym before the event at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors.

Mr Allen lost his bout against opponent Jay Porter but loved every moment of the night, with his parents, accountant Martin Allen and dementia carer Tarana Allen, both 50, in the audience.

He said: “If you’re on the fence about doing it, just take that leap and do it, you won’t regret it.

“They’re there to look after you.

“Men don’t speak about cancer publicly as much as women do.

“I’d taken on the biggest fight you’re ever going to have - against cancer - I thought I may as well fight for Cancer Research UK.

“When I got diagnosed, I put it on Facebook, telling people to check themselves for signs of cancer.

“My dad said he would never have told anyone if he’d had it, he would tell his wife but no one else. I just warned people to be aware.”