20 Years on …..

My name is Rich Mason, I am a family friend of Matt Coulter and I wish to share my story as yesterday I reached the significanct milestone of being 20 years cancer free!

I am English and live in England and was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 27 in 1992. I had 6 months of chemotherapy went into remission and all looked great but I relapsed 5 years later and ended up having a bone marrow transplant. That was on 5th July 1997 but since then I’ve been fit and well and so yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of being cancer free.

The purpose of this message is to show that there can be a long and fulfilling life after a cancer diagnosis at a young age. Since my transplant I have had no further treatment. I went on to run lots of half marathons and now I keep fit by going to the gym regularly and swimming (up to a mile) 2 or 3 times a week.

The work that Matt and his foundation is doing for young people with cancer is truly inspiring and hopefully this short message brings a small ray of sunshine and a little hope for all the young children facing their own battles right now.

My heart goes out to any family who’s children are diagnosed with cancer and I wish every single child going through treatment right now, all the very, very best.

Bless you all.

Rich xxx