Terminally ill man wins bet on staying alive
Bet of a lifetime
A terminally ill man collected £5,000 today - after betting he would stay alive.
Jon Matthews, 58, from Milton Keynes, Bucks. bet he could beat doctors' predictions and live.
Eight months ago he was told "don't make any plans for Christmas" but bet £100 he would survive and won.
He said: "The doctors said I wouldn't live until the end of the year.
"They said don't make any plans for Christmas, but I'm still here.
"I got to last year about this time and I thought 'I don't feel too bad'.
"Then I got hold of William Hill and placed a bet. They checked all the facts out and that's why they gave me odds of 50/1.
Doctors at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex told him he had Mesothelioma - a cancer linked to asbestos - in April 2006.
"The longest the doctors have ever heard of anyone surviving Mesothelioma after diagnosis was 25 months," he said.
"Today is 25 months and a week so I've beaten that record.
"I do get bad days obviously but I'm feeling fine today.
"Everyone's feeling fine if they're going to pick up five grand!"
Mr Matthews said he would give half the money to cancer charity Macmillan.
"The other half I'm going to spend on myself - booze and fags probably - I don't have anything to lose!"
"The other thing I've always wanted to do is a bunjee jump."
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "We had never been asked to accept a bet of this nature before, but as Jon approached us directly and was adamant that it would give him an additional incentive to battle his illness, we offered him the bet he wanted."
"Never, in thirty years in the business, have I been so pleased to pay a winning client £5,000."
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