Students honour friend by 'turning pain into purpose'

STUDENTS came together to remember a friend who died from an incredibly rare form of cancer. Pupils from Kings Priory School in Tynemouth took on a 5k run in memory of fellow pupil Matthew Adams.

- By KRISTY DAWSON

Matthew, 18, from Tynemouth, died on May 23 following a brave two-and-a-half-year battle with metastatic paraganglioma - a neuroendocrine condition affecting just two in every one million people.

The teenager finished his studies but never got the chance to take his A-levels in history, geography, and politics. The current Year 13 pupils all knew Matthew and many attended his funeral wearing Hawaiian shirts at his family's request.

He had been planning, until just eight weeks before his death, to raise money for cancer-related charities with his friends from the school. He wanted to do this by climbing the highest peak in each of the UK mainland nations. The challenge was successfully completed by two of his closest friends over the summer.