Cancer Sufferer Wins £5,000 After Bet to Stay Alive

Jon Matthews won £5,000 by beating the odds, even the 50/1 odds offered by bookmakers William Hill, when he remained alive until June 1, 2008. The same bet for June 1, 2009 paid out another £5,000 today. In April 2006, Matthews was diagnosed with mesothelioma and his doctor only gave him a few months to live. "I think I'm the first person in the world to bet on my own life," he said. The longest doctors at Harefield Hospital have heard of anyone surviving this type of cancer after diagnosis was 25 months. "I reached 26 months a year ago and on June 1 this year I will have reached 38 months," he said. "When I was diagnosed I was told mesothelioma was a death sentence." Jon has again placed a bet for next year and will get a 100/1 payout this time if he lives until June 1, 2010.

not the first

[spiffmastercow]

There was a guy who collected 10000 pounds a few years back for living to be 100.. Sorry, no time to track down the link.

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[selven]

This would be a good type of bet to make, and you can do lots of fun stuff with it. eg. I sign a contract where I get $1000/year for the rest of my life and in exchange you get 50% of my property when I die. If I live, I get a nice boost to my income, if I die, I'm too dead to care (and if you believe in quantum immortality, the second case doesn't even exist!)

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[lewko]

That's not a bet. It's called a "reverse mortgage" and is a frequent practice by lenders for ripping off old people.