Miracle at the start line give weeks to live

Not long ago, 21-year-old Ben Atkins was picking his gravestone. But today, he will on the 26.2 miles, free from the cancer h thought was terminal.

Aged 17, doctors gave him weeks to liv following a two-year battle with Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma.

Ben began palliative care and even we on a final family holiday.

But a miracle happened six months lat when he began to feel “strangely OK”. A scan revealed he was indeed in remissio

Ben, from Berkhamsted, Herts, took u long-distance running a year ago to stay after his all-clear.

But he said: “It will be a huge challeng years of chemo gave my body a batterin

And he is raising money for the charit that supported him through his illness – Teenage Cancer Trust.

Recalling the moment he learned his cancer was terminal, he said: “To be told going to die wasn’t a shock after years o treatment but it made me determined to spend every moment with friends and fa

“It was a very emotional time – I even chose where I’d be buried. Like everyone remained hopeful I would somehow defy odds. To be that person feels incredible.”

Consultants were baffled by the turnaround but think perhaps a stem cel transplant Ben had two years prior start working later than it should have.

“To this day, nobody is exactly sure ho am still alive. But I don’t dwell on it.”

Ben’s cancer symptoms began to sho aged 14. Exhausted, he lost weight and h quit running, rugby, football and swimmi Scans revealed two tumours in his che Treated at the Teenage Cancer Trust u at University College Hospital London, h