A former army cadet who thought he felt tired and itchy due to a hangover was horrified to discover he actually had cancer.
Andrew Frost had been on holiday with his friends in Thailand in 2019 - and thought the symptoms were just temporary as his body recovered from three weeks away.
The now 27-year-old fainted when he returned to the UK and was prescribed antihistamines by his GP - but this wasn't effective and he needed to be rushed to hospital after collapsing two days later.
READ MORE: Boy told he had cancer by stranger who stopped him in the street
The ex-army logistic supply specialist received the horrific news from doctors that he had stage 2a non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the lymphatic system.
He said: "It's the worst thing you can hear and it was a massive shock. I went white and passed out.
"They needed to use a wheelchair to push me around the hospital as I kept shaking. I said to the doctor 'no it can't be that, no chance'.
"Despite not having any visible lumps or bumps they did a biopsy on the right side of my neck and two weeks later they said it was NHL."
NHL affects around 14,000 people in the UK each year and is usually diagnosed in people aged over 55.
Andrew, from Staffordshire, had no underlying health conditions and was told he would need to undergo a three-month course of chemotherapy.
"I had chemo every two weeks for three months. I got lucky that I didn't need any radiotherapy and I beat it really soon, perhaps because of my age."
The HGV driver got the all-clear in November 2019 - and is encouraging anyone with the same symptoms to get checked out by a doctor.
He said: "I've had friends saying they feel itchy and tired and I've said to always get it checked.
"I had a rash on the right-hand side of my arm that was like a heat rash. I thought that maybe I'd been bitten by a bug.
"When we were on the plane back from Hua Hin I told the lads, who were mates from school, that I was really itchy all over my body.
"They said there was nothing wrong with me and it was from all the alcohol I'd drunk and from being in the sun."
Andrew's nan died after a battle with cancer in 2019 and he is now doing a sponsored 26-mile hike for Macmillan Cancer support.
He said: "The Macmillan nurses were always good with my gran and I just wanted to give something back."
You can donate to Andrew's page here
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