You have to love this story by Dr. Vicky Forster of the Northern Institute for Cancer Research in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness month.

"On Christmas day in 1994, whilst the rest of my family were playing games in the lounge, I was asleep in bed upstairs feeling absolutely exhausted, despite the fact that I had only woken up a few hours previously. I had been ill for a few weeks with what the doctor thought was a chest infection. Later that week, when I still wasn’t better, my mum took me to the doctor again who sent me for a blood test.

"On New Year’s Eve 1994, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and admitted to St. Bartholomew’s hospital in London for a two and a half year program of treatment..."

Read the uplifting details at:

“Dear Cancer, I beat you aged eight and today I got my PhD in cancer research” - Cancer Research UK Science Update Blog