A teenage cancer survivor has spoken out about his journey, where he was diagnosed at 11. Sam Amess went on holiday to Morocco and felt like he had a 'stitch' which turned out to be a tumour.
Sam was diagnosed with a stage four liver tumour shortly before his 12th birthday. He was confined to a wheelchair for months, and says at one point, hospice care was being discussed, Hull Live reports.
He is now in great health, and plans to undertake a challenge to raise money for a charity that supports those going through what he went through. Sam will be running 5k on Sunday, July 3 to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Sam said: "It's been seven years since I was diagnosed and then received my transplant. We have done lots of fundraisers before, but this time I wanted to do something by myself.
"Before my diagnosis, I was very active and played a lot of football, but once I started the chemo I was wheelchair-bound for months and I lost a lot of weight. To get to where I am now is amazing and running a 5k will be great achievement for me."
Sam first found out that he had a tumour after feeling a sharp pain "like a stitch" whilst on holiday in Morocco. Once he got home, he went to the doctors and had an MRI scan, revealing that he had a large tumour on his liver.
Speaking about how it feels to have overcome his cancer and now be competing in Race For Life, Sam said: "It's quite surreal to be honest, when you think that I'd been given such a low chance of survival and I didn't think I'd make it. At one point we were even talking about putting me in a hospice.
"It feels great to be able to do events like this now and raise as much as I can for the people who need it.
Sam has already raised over £250 for Cancer Research UK through his online fundraiser. He is determined to collect as much as he can before Race For Life starts on July 3.
Sam added: "Any donations that people can make to my fundraiser will help massively. I don't want to see anyone else go through what I went through." You can donate to Sam Amess's fundraiser for Cancer Research UK by clicking here.
