Unexpected things can happen when you first start dating someone.
It’s a whole new world that can be scary and exciting at the same time.
However, not many people experience a life and death situation when they first start dating someone.
But for 20-year-old student Emma Mayor, she discovered something about her new boyfriend that she could never have imagined.
And it all began with a hug…
When 20-year-old Emma Mayor joined Tinder, it was only meant to be a joke and nothing seriously.
But after meeting and dating James Catlow through it, she realized the seriousness of the matter.
After a couple of dates with the 21-year-old who worked in wealth management, she made a scary discovery.
Student saved boyfriend's life with a hug after meeting him through Tinder https://t.co/wQUdYPWghv pic.twitter.com/QDf34Me0GW
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) June 5, 2019
Emma, a University of Central Lancashire student in the U.K., gave James a hug and felt a lump on his back.
“I thought it would be a cyst, but I also realized it could be something more serious,” she said, according to The Mirror.
And tragically, it was.
Fulwood man having proton beam therapy in America thanks to The Clatterbridge Centre https://t.co/xEeunGYeYh
— Hannah Catlow (@hannahhcatlow) October 22, 2018
James was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer which grows in your bones or on the soft tissue around your bones.
His treatment began in June 2018 and he was prescribed 14 cycles of chemotherapy.
He had to endure 13 months of treatment, including traveling to the U.S. to receive Proton therapy.
“Before I spotted the tumor, I had only known James for five months after friends put me on Tinder as a joke,” Emma said according to The Mirror.
“James always tells me I saved his life. But if that’s the case, I didn’t just save him, I saved our future together.”
Given the all clear
James was given the cancer all clear in March and is now looking forward to a future with Emma. The couple plans to travel so they can spend even more time together.
“We are happy and excited about what is to come and that, hopefully, will be a home, marriage and a family one day. We have joked about the great story we will have to tell our children, or the speeches people will be able to tell on our wedding day.”
Wonderful to see James Catlow ring the end of treatment bell today. James was treated in our Teenage and Young Adult unit. The NHS also referred him for proton beam therapy treatment in the USA. Good luck James! @eotbuk #cancercare #protonbeam pic.twitter.com/vv1CtKPBpM
— ClatterbridgeCC NHS (@CCCNHS) March 22, 2019
Wonderful to hear that James is now cancer free and looking forward to all the things a 21-year-old should be looking forward to.
Thank goodness he met Emma and she stayed with him throughout his terrifying ordeal. Long live love!
