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Hey Hey It’s Saturday star John Blackman undergoes more facial surgery

Hey Hey It’s Saturday star John Blackman has undergone more surgery on Monday after doctors were forced to remove his jaw to save him from skin cancer.

He shared a photo of himself recovering in Melbourne’s Linacre Private Hospital, showing his face bruised and stitched together.

“My journey towards becoming George Clooney's stunt double for all his love scenes (or the part of Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz) continued today,” John joked on Monday.

“Huge thanks to all the wonderful staff and my plastic surgeon Doctor Frank!”

He last went under the knife in February to have a ‘gutter’ placed in his mouth to stop him from dribbling. This is after his jaw was completely removed and was replaced with a reshaped section of his fibula.

John was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, which is a type of skin cancer that accounts for around 70% of non-melanoma skin cancers. He was first diagnosed in 2018 when he found a lump on his chin which he initially thought was a pimple.

Speaking to 3AW's Neil Mitchell in March 2019, John said: “It's like I've had an accident. It's like I've ploughed into a tree and my life has changed forever.

“There are people out there far worse off, and I'm reminded of that everyday,' he said, adding that he had to communicate through eye movements while in recovery.”

The beloved former voice of Dickie Knee on the show said he has a newfound appreciation for people with disabilities and their resilience.

“Sometime's it's like Groundhog Day, every morning I wake up and look in the mirror and think "maybe today it'll change" but it's still there,” he said.

Tags:
hey hey it's saturday, john blackman, facial surgery, melanoma, jaw removal, skin cancer