A terminally ill man in the UK has won a bet that he would stay alive. Eight months ago doctors told him ‘not to make any plans for Christmas’. Last Sunday he collected £5,000 for outliving the grim forecasts, reports the Guardian newspaper.

Jon Matthews, 58, was diagnosed with Mesothelioma – a cancer type linked to asbestos – in April 2006.

The longest anyone with the disease lived after diagnosis was 25 months, he was told.

When doctors said him last autumn he wouldn’t make it until the end of year, Matthews decided to literally take his chances. He went to a bookmaker firm to put a £100 bet that he would survive. Matthews insisted the bet would give him an extra stimulus to fight the illness.

“They checked all the facts out and that's why they gave me odds of 50/1,” he said.

On June 1 Matthews beat the record. His will to live rewarded him with a £5,000 prize, half of which he plans to give to a cancer charity and half leave for himself.

“Never, in thirty years in the business, have I been so pleased to pay a winning client £5,000,” commented a spokesman for the bookmaker.