Dying man wins staying alive bet

A TERMINALLY ill man collected £5,000 (€6,368) yesterday — 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 with 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 the cancer charity Macmillan.