A teenager was diagnosed with stage three cancer after first going to the doctors about breathing problems and a lump on his neck. Jacob Allen was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin Lymphoma aged 15 just before the Covid-19 lockdown began – but now he’s running a half marathon for the charity that helped him during his treatment.
In February 2020, Jacob went to the doctors after months of breathing problems and finding a lump on his neck. Doctors thought Jacob might have had glandular fever. “I went to Boots and then we went to the doctors and then I had blood tests and they didn’t know what it was,” the now 18-year-old said. Jacob, from Penarth, was sent to the University Hospital Wales that evening for tests and scans. He was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin Lymphoma and started treatment within five days.
However, Jacob tried not to get too stressed about it. “I was a bit scared, I sort of guessed something was quite wrong at the time. I tried not to get too worked up about it,” he said. Jacob spent a month and a half as an in-patient while he was getting chemotherapy. He stopped his usual hobbies of hockey, rugby and sailing and had to stop going to school.
