Brave Matt wins Cambridge spot

Aug 25 2010 By Camilla Goodman, Buckinghamshire Examiner

bravematt

A TEENAGER who battled cancer while studying at school has just won a place at Cambridge University.

Matthew Dickinson, 18, of Eskdale Avenue, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2006, at the time he began studying for his GCSEs.

But despite falling seriously ill with the disease, he chose to carry on studying hard and has just landed two A*s and an A at A-level.

He has also just been told he has won his dream place at Cambridge university to study theology and religious studies.

He said: "I'm over the moon, I'm so relieved. I was nervous right up until the last minute!"

Matthew, who has now been given the all-clear from doctors, survived only because he was lucky enough to find a match for a bone marrow transplant.

He was diagnosed with the disease at the start of year 10 while studying at Chesham High School, in White Hill, after having felt poorly for some time.

He said: "I just felt really rough, but it didn't really feel like flu or a stomach bug and I thought it was going to go away. I went to the doctors and, when they couldn't find anything wrong with me, they took a blood test which showed I had leukaemia.

"It was pretty scary to be told this and my parents were devastated."

Matthew began having chemotherapy in 2007 and was in and out of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and St Mary's in London.

He said: "I still went back into school after my treatments but then it got a lot worse and I had to have a transplant, which is when I missed a lot of school and it got difficult.

"Sometimes it made me not to want keep studying, but I decided to keep my head down and get on with it.

"The first time I went to see Cambridge I thought it was great. I knew it was where I wanted to be, so I started working really hard. I was lucky that my family were so supportive and the teach-ers from the school were great."

Matthew has two sisters, Emma, 21 and Fay, 14. His parents are Liz and Tony.

Tony said: "We're absolutely delighted with his achievements. We're so proud of him; he always just got on with it and worked his way through it."

And his family are now urging people to sign up for bone marrow donation. Matthew said: "If it wasn't for the anonymous person who donated their bone marrow, I wouldn't be here today.

"I think people normally sign up when they or someone they know have been affected by it but by signing up you could save someone's life." **For more information log on to www.anthonynolan.org or www. nhsbt.nhs.uk.