April is Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month. Alex is sharing his thoughts to shed light on the unique experience of having cancer as a young person and raise vital awareness.

Tell us one thing the world should know about you? 

I love football, especially Liverpool!

Can you tell us about a dream/aspiration you have for the future?

An aspiration of mine is to grow up to be a very wealthy person and give as much back as I can to Cancer Fund for Children and hopefully work with them.

⁠Is there anything particularly different about having cancer as a teenager? 

Teenage years are more important for friendship in my opinion so you miss out on a lot and drift away from people you could’ve been really close with. Also teenage years are very personal to yourself and when you’re sick you need help with everything so it’s not very private anymore.

⁠What do you think is the one biggest challenge young people with cancer face that other teenagers might not?

Losing friends in the process. Or even just being that sick most “normal” teenagers wouldn’t experience that level of sickness and fatigue.

For those who support teenagers with cancer whether it be nurses, parents, social workers, youth workers etc, what one thing should they know or do, to help support young people better?

I think they should know that teenagers are different when it comes to charity retreats. Some teens want to chill and not talk about their diagnosis at all and some want to go and be active with other teens and share stories, but it’s okay for either one of them.

Anything else you would like to say about being a young person and having cancer, that may help support other young people out there?

I’d say to other young people that you’re not completely helpless with cancer, you can do things to benefit yourself too, whether it’s exercise or diet changes to compliment your treatment. It makes it feel like you’re in control again and it goes a long way for your mental health!

You can help us support other young people like Alex. Find out how today!