A twin delayed his own cancer treatment to donate bone marrow to his brother who was diagnosed just weeks later.
Ian and Thomas Slater's lives were turned upside down as teenagers when they were given the devastating news just weeks apart.
Ian, 16, said he was taken out of school by his parents one day who told him he had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
The devastating news was made even harder by the fact that Ian's twin brother Thomas, had recently been diagnosed with desmoplastic fibroma - one of the rarest bone tumours in the world.
Before undergoing his own treatment for the tumour, Thomas postponed his operations in order to be a donor for Ian, who needed a bone marrow transplant, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Ian said: "When my mum and dad took me out of school, sat me down and told me I had Leukaemia, I had no idea what leukaemia was.
"My mum said it's a form of cancer and the first thing I asked was 'does that mean I'm going to die?'
"I was only 16. All I knew was if you get cancer you die."
Prior to his diagnosis, Ian had been suffering from nose bleeds and bruises started appearing all over his body.
He was soon taken out of high school in November 2005 and admitted to Whiston Hospital, where he spent the following seven months receiving chemotherapy.
Ian said: "Thomas was 15 when he broke his leg playing rugby.
"We thought it was just a fracture but it turned out when he got to hospital, they found he had a bone tumour.
"It had hollowed out the main bone at the front of his leg. He needed to undergo surgery and an operation to fix it."
"Just before he was going to into the operation I found out I had leukaemia. It all happened six or seven months apart."
At the time, doctors found that Thomas was a match for the stem cell transplant Ian now needed to treat his leukaemia.
Ian said: "Thomas paused his operations for 12 months so that he could build up enough stem cells to give to me."
After undergoing radio therapy at Clatterbridge Hospital followed by a bone marrow transplant at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Ian who was now in remission, was given the all clear.
Meanwhile Thomas, had to undergo surgery on his leg due to the tumour which he later found out was one of the rarest bone tumours in the world, called desmoplastic fibroma.
Ian said: "It wasn't until eight years later that doctors discovered what tumour it was.
"It's one of the rarest bone tumours in the world.
"Thomas was in a full leg cast for a long time. The bone wouldn't heal because of the tumour."
Just last year Thomas, who is still receiving treatment and check ups for the tumour, underwent a major operation.
During the operation a total of 15 screws and plates were put into his leg to hold the bone together.
Now aged 30, and 15 years since Ian got the all clear, the twins, from Rainford, are taking on the Three Peaks Challenge in September, to raise money for the hospitals that helped them.
The challenge involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon - the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours, with all donations raised going to Whitson Hospital and The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
Ian said: "We said one day we would do the Three Peaks Challenge so we thought we might as well do something to raise money for charity.
"We want to give back to the hospitals that looked after us and with everything that's going on at the moment they need a bit of support.
"We need to make sure Thomas has support for his leg and that's it's safe so we will be going a bit slower than normal but whether it takes 24 hours or 48 hours we're not going to sleep until we do it."
Ian and Thomas will be completing the challenge with their dad Ian Slater, older brother Daniel and colleagues from their family business Palletland.
The group are aiming to raise £10,000. To donate to the GoFundMe page click here.
