‘Titanium Man’ Jacob Cachia yesterday had his beard shaved off, leaving a moustache that he will proudly wear for the month-long campaign known as Movember.

The 16-year-old, who earned his nickname after having an operation in March to replace part of his skull with a titanium plate, was joined by a group of men who dub themselves ‘the Mo Bros’, who also started the month with a ’tache.

Movember aims to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. Proud mother Sarah explained Jacob plans to keep his upper lip hair for the month, even though it is not very fashionable.

“Jacob has a kind of empathy for survivors – especially after the trauma he has been through.

“Unlike breast cancer, it used to be shameful to speak about male cancers. Men tend to not speak about it,” she said.

One Mo Bro is Ian Cochrane, who recently joined the Facebook support group Survivors Malta that Jacob co-founded.

“We decided to start the month with our ’taches already in place rather than waiting for them to sprout two weeks down the line,” he said.

“We were all wearing T-shirts and people were stopping us to ask what it was all about.

“We got to spread the message ‘when in doubt, check it out!’”