Leukaemia no obstacle for optometry graduate

An optometry student at Cardiff University who survived a year-long cancer battle which included the launch of a worldwide online appeal for a stem cell donor from her bedside, graduated earlier this week.

Vithiya Alphons, who underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, first hit the headlines when she embarked on a social media campaign to encourage more people to join the Anthony Nolan register when it was discovered she had just months to live unless a suitable stem cell donor was found.

After no suitable match was found, Alphons’s mother made a last-ditch attempt to save her daughter’s life.