Student who thought she had freshers' flu given devastating diagnosis

A university student who thought she had freshers' flu was shocked to find out she actually had blood cancer. Zara Barton initially put her symptoms down to stress and living a "typical student lifestyle."

She first started to notice her itchy skin, a persistent cough, weight loss and a hard 2cm lump below her neck last February, but put them down her lifestyle and the stress of an "upsetting break-up". At first, the 19-year-old fashion marketing and branding student was prescribed creams and antihistamines by doctors.

In November last year, as the hives and itchiness of her skin became "unbearable," she pushed for answers and was stunned to be diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin Lymphoma. The teen had her eggs collected to help preserve her fertility before she started chemotherapy in December, and now, halfway through her treatment, she received the good news last month that there were no signs of active cancer in her body.

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Zara is passionate about raising awareness of the symptoms of Hodgkin Lymphoma and urges anyone who recognises the symptoms to visit a doctor - and to keep returning if they're not taken seriously. The student, of Solihull, West Midlands, said: "I think if people recognise the symptoms, don't hesitate to go to the doctors, even if you feel like it is nothing because I just assumed 'it was nothing to worry about'. Something like itching, I didn't have a clue that that was a sign of blood cancer.

"It's best to double-check and you can tell when something's not right, even at the very start when I was getting the itching I just thought 'this isn't me, this doesn't feel right'. So it's important to be persistent if you