"I wrote a speech and then a week before I was due to deliver it they said, 'you've got cancer'."
This was the opening line of Christchurch Boys' High School senior monitor Jake Bailey's prizegiving speech.
Jake presented his end-of-year speech on stage in a wheelchair after undergoing urgent cancer treatment in the weeks leading up to it.
Since that speech, Jake's life has been a whirlwind of national and international attention, awards and thankfully, remission.
His school speech made headlines around the world from our neighbours across the Tasman to the UK.
A line from his speech won him Massey University's quote of the year 2015, which said:
"Here's the thing - none of us get out of life alive. So be gallant, be great, be gracious, and be grateful for the opportunities that you have".
Jake announced he was in remission at the end of last month. He said at times he felt like he was 81 rather than 18 but he was "just grateful to be alive".
Jake spoke to Story about the impact his words have made and his plans for the future. His plans to study Commerce and Law in Auckland may have been derailed but Jake doesn't mind, he says he has a new perspective on things.
Newshub.
