The boy handed over the cancer diagnosis after he thought he had suffered a stab wound while on holiday

Sam Amess was just 12 when he felt a sharp pain “like a stab” while on holiday in Morocco and received heartbreaking news on his return home after visiting a doctor

A boy who received a devastating cancer diagnosis after thinking he had stabbed himself while on holiday has braved the odds remarkably.

Sam Amess, from Bransholme, was just 12 while on holiday in Morocco when he felt a sharp pain ‘like a stab’.

He decided to see the doctors when he returned home to assess the pain. HullLive reported.

The young lad was sent for an MRI scan, which diagnosed a stage four liver tumor shortly before his 12th birthday.

Confined to a wheelchair for months, Sam says hospice care was discussed at one point.

But the now 19-year-old has defied the odds during his recovery, having originally been given a very slim chance of survival.

After being diagnosed in March 2015, Sam underwent chemotherapy before undergoing a life-saving liver transplant in July.

He is now in excellent health and plans to take on a challenge to raise money for a charity that supports those who are going through what he has been through.

Sam will run the 5K in Costello on Sunday 3rd July to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Speaking to Hull Live, Sam said: “It’s been seven years since I was diagnosed and then received my transplant.

“We have done many fundraisers before, but this time I wanted to do something on my own.

“Before my diagnosis I was very active and played a lot of soccer, but when I started chemo I was confined to a wheelchair for months and lost a lot of weight.

“It’s amazing to get to where I am now and to run a 5K will be a great achievement for me.”

Speaking about how it feels to have overcome his cancer, Sam said: “To be honest it’s quite surreal considering I was given such a slim chance of survival and I didn’t think I would would create.

“At one point we even talked about putting me in a hospice.

“It feels great to be able to do events like this now and raise as much as possible for the people who need it.

Sam has raised over £250 for Cancer Research UK through his online fundraiser.

He’s determined to collect as much as he can before Race For Life begins on July 3rd.

Sam added: “Any donations that people can make to my fundraiser will help massively.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through.”