WHEN Matthew Davies steps on to the ward at Southampton General Hospital, he is not just going to work, he is reminding himself of a journey he went on as a young boy which saw him beat cancer against the odds.

On his first day on the G2 ward the senior healthcare assistant was given a patient to look after who was sitting in the very same spot where Matthew himself was given the news as a ten-year-old boy that he was suffering from an aggressive form of cancer.

He had been rapidly losing weight and after an initial diagnosis of an eating disorder was dismissed by his mum, the second opinion confirmed their worst fears.

Matthew, 29, said: “After that it was a bit of a whirlwind having biopsies, tests, people drawing on me all the time to mark certain spots for scans.

“I remember asking whether I would die, as I didn’t know then that cancer was even curable. I remember my mum just started crying.”

It was New Year’s Eve 1997 when tests confirmed it was cancer, advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma – and the prognosis wasn’t good.

Matthew said: “Afterwards my mum told me that she had been told I could only have six months, it was a really bad time for everyone.

“But I was determined to fight it and tried to do everything I could to get my energy levels up so that I could get through the treatment which was pretty gruelling. Two weeks on and two weeks off chemo. I remember the injections and having to take something like 13 tablets every day, it was really tough. But it was working.”

That summer Matthew was in remission and got the news he had been chosen to go to Orlando with the Dreamflight charity, which takes youngsters dealing with a serious illness or disability for a holiday of a lifetime, visiting an array of theme parks.

He said: “I never dreamt it would be anything to look forward to as I thought it was going to be for some more treatment.

“It took me a while to understand that this was purely about having a holiday, I just couldn’t get my head around it. What an opportunity for someone like me.

“By this time I was in remission and everyone agreed that I was well enough to go, so I did.

“To say it was the most amazing experience doesn’t quite say enough. It was just one word – magical!

“Everything about it was just brilliant, I felt like I was a kid again as I had had to do a lot of growing up over that past year, it is hard to put into words what it did for me.”

But while he was there he again began feeling unwell. When he got back to Southampton, tests confirmed the cancer had returned.

Matthew, from Southampton, said: “I knew I had to fight it again and I truly believe that the trip to with Dreamflight gave me that magic that I needed to face it and fight the cancer again.

“It had given me hope and shown me how fantastic it was to be alive, so I used that magic to help me beat it.”

And he did. With an even more gruelling treatment regime Matthew was in remission once again by May 1999. What followed were regular check-ups and tests but he stayed healthy and ten years later, aged 21, he was finally discharged.

“It was really emotional saying goodbye,” he said, “I had spent so much time there, been through so much and made really good friends with all the doctors and staff. It was very hard when they said I didn’t need to come back.”

But he did come back, not as a patient but this time as a senior healthcare assistant. “I think my experience does help me in my job as being told you have cancer is a really difficult and scary time. I am able to understand that,” he added.

Matthew got married in 2014 to Heidi who surprised him on his wedding day with a copy of a video from his trip to Orlando.

The inspiration given to him by the charity is forever etched on Matthew as he has a tattoo of Mickey Mouse and the Dreamflight logo along with the purple ribbon to signify Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the name Piam Brown.

Matthew added: “I will never forget what Dreamflight gave me. They gave me hope and they gave me the magic I needed to beat cancer.”

The Dreamflight charity has been making the trip of a lifetime happen for children with a serious illness or disability since it was set up in 1987.

Each year they take 192 children to Orlando for a ten-day holiday with a team of volunteer medics and carers to look after them around the clock.

The cost of the annual trip is in the region of £750,000 and is funded solely by voluntary contributions.

A series of fundraisers are staged each year to help the charity. Most recently a race night was organised in Chandler’s Ford by Dreamflight volunteer Jon Gray which raised just over £8,000.

If you would like to support Dreamflight, visit their website at www.dreamflight.org or call 01494 722733.