If you were told that you only had nine months to live, you’d acknowledge that the odds were not in your favor. If you were Jon Matthews, however, you would make a bet that you would beat those unfavorable odds.

In April 2006, Jon Matthews was diagnosed with mesothelioma and given just nine months to live. But the 58-year-old, from Milton Keynes, England made a £100 bet at 50-1 odds that he would still be around, nine months later, to tell about it.

Roughly 26 months after his original diagnosis, Matthews is still alive and £5,000 richer. He said, "I do get bad days obviously but I'm feeling fine today. Everyone's feeling fine if they're going to pick up five grand. The longest the doctors have ever heard of anyone surviving was 25 months.”

The former car dealer said he would give half the money, paid out by bookers William Hill, to Macmillan Cancer Support. He hasn’t fully decided how to spend the rest of the money, but he is certainly going to do something he has always dreamt of doing – bungee jumping.

As for bookers William Hill, they said they are not mad about losing £5,000 this time. Graham Sharpe, media relations director with William Hill, said: "We have never been asked to accept a bet of this nature before, but as Jon approached us directly and was adamant that it would give him an additional incentive to battle his illness, we offered him the bet he wanted. Never, in 30 years in the business, have I been so pleased to pay a winning client £5,000."

For Jon's Full Story, Click Here.