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Miracle teenager Dan Evans, from Newark, rings the bell to mark end of cancer treatment at Nottingham City Hospital and sets sights on Lincoln University




An emotional two-year journey reached a heart-warming milestone as a ‘miracle’ teenager finally rang a bell to mark the end of his cancer treatment.

Dan Evans, 18, experienced something no-one should have to - after being diagnosed with cancer, he was told to ‘go home and make memories’.

But yesterday (Tuesday, January 28), he finally got to ring the bell at Nottingham City Hospital to mark the end of his treatment - a milestone that he and his family, NHS staff, and friends had hoped for so much.

Dan Evans ringing the end of treatment bell at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans ringing the end of treatment bell at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans (centre) with his cousin Harry Cox, dad Mark Evans, stepdad Robert Cox, and mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans (centre) with his cousin Harry Cox, dad Mark Evans, stepdad Robert Cox, and mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans with his mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans with his mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson

“I am glad that the rollercoaster has come to the stop line and we can now disembark the ride and Dan can now go and look for other things to do around the fairground rather than being stuck in that roller coaster, it is a miracle,” said Mark Evans, Dan’s dad.

Dan was a pupil at Sir William Roberston Academy in Welbourn when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer — stage four Primary Mediastinal B Cell Lymphoma — in December 2022 after he went to the hospital with flu-like symptoms.

At Christmas 2023, after only six months of chemotherapy, Dan was told all treatment avenues had been exhausted and he should 'go home and make memories’.

Dan Evans (centre) with his cousin Harry Cox, dad Mark Evans, stepdad Robert Cox, and mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans (centre) with his cousin Harry Cox, dad Mark Evans, stepdad Robert Cox, and mum Natalya Evans at Nottingham City Hospital. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans with his dad Mark Evans. Photos: David Dawson
Dan Evans with his dad Mark Evans. Photos: David Dawson

But the teenager, who lives in Newark, and his loved ones refused to give up and found a clinical trial that had proved successful elsewhere.

Dan said: “When you are told such an extreme thing, that you're not going to make it, or treatment's not working, and then you end up making it, it's always hard to believe and you don't know how to feel.

“To be the one that is the miracle boy, it is strange that it is me.

“Why is it me? Why am I the one that is so special? I still don’t understand why.”

The public rallied around and raised £50,000 towards the £100,000 treatment, before the NHS agree to fund it.

The 18-year-old added: “It is almost like a dream, it is hard to remember the details. It’s like it happened but at the same time it didn’t, it is hard to distinguish reality from the dream.

“You never picture yourself going through something like this, you only hear about it, you only see others going through it, so you just think, no, it can’t happen to me.

“So when it happens, it makes you feel ‘what is going on’?”

Around April time, after he concluded his treatment, Dan went through a stem cell transplant, which despite being exhausting and facing some weaknesses in recovery, he overcame.

From his diagnosis of lymphoma, undergoing numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as CAR-T cell therapy and an unrelated donor stem cell transplant, Dan has now achieved his dream of finally being able to ring the bell.

Dan added: “Typically, I think you'd ring the bell after each treatment, but I wanted to make sure I was in remission and that my treatment was done before I did so and only then I would have rung the bell.

“To know that's all happened and I'm in a good place, it's great that we are where we are and being able to do that.

“Thinking of how it could have been, which you don't want to give too much thought to how it could have been because it's not the way it is, but you can really appreciate how things are more when you know what could have been

“I think things from the situation we were in, couldn't have gone much better, so I can only be grateful.”

At Dan’s ringing bell ceremony were his dad Mark Evans, his cousin Harry Cox, his mum Natalya Evans and stepfather Robert Cox.

Proud dad Mark said: “Dan was right on the edge of death, and being told that there was nothing that could be done, to go home and make memories is such the saying of the century, and then to being here with him in remission is unbelievable.

“Had Dan not found this combination on the internet, that would have been his life over because we wouldn’t have known about it.

“There are potentially thousands of cancer sufferers that could acquire some form of medications and they are just not aware.”

Some members of the medical and nursing staff also had the chance to witness Dan get back to normal life outside the place he called home for two years.

Jo Addada, of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, described the young man as ‘very brave and positive’ throughout many adversities.

Robert said: “I am Dan’s stepfather but with his dad and the whole family on both sides, it brought us all together to support him.

“It has been a challenging journey but I am pleased we are here today to do this.

“The whole thing is off the scale because it is two polar opposites of emotions, you have got thinking ‘there’s no hope’ to he’s absolutely back and full of life.

“Are there words that describe that? It is just built-up emotions but I think the smiles on people’s faces tell you that.”

Dan’s mum Natalya added: “It is almost like we were overlooking someone’s story like it didn’t happen to us and we were just watching from the side.

“It is surreal, I think we are all still a little bit numb. It is almost difficult, you’re almost scared to jinx.

“I never believed there was no future for Dan, I always knew he was a tough kid.”

Now in remission, Dan is preparing to start a geography degree at The University of Lincoln this September, and plans to celebrate his newfound freedom with a holiday abroad alongside his family.

Hi dad Mark added: “There were a lot of people involved in making this happen.

“We had to battle, me, my best friend Wendy, she was really quite instrumental in a lot of letter writing, telephone calls, the people that we need to reach out to she reached out to, myself having some very strongly worded conversations with doctors and without it, this could have been a really different story altogether.

“Dan’s mum was amazing, every day by his side, she was his moral and spiritual support and I was on the outskirts just fighting the battle.

“A higher power has been at play with this whole situation with Dan because there were too many things that could’ve gone wrong and they didn’t.”

Dan’s cousin, Harry Cox, lost his dad to cancer around four years ago and said he wanted to support Dan and his family as he went through a similar situation.

“I couldn’t help but tear up when he was doing it, it is nice to see someone beat it,” he said. “I am so proud of Dan, it is a massive achievement.”



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