AN inspirational law graduate who refused to let cancer stop him achieving his ambitions is on track to become a high-flying legal eagle.

Mahesh Vara, a graduate of Durham University, has won a scholarship to attend BPP Law School in Manchester.

The former Turton School pupil, from Bromley Cross, was eight years old when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.

He underwent two years of gruelling treatment.

However, just after he completed his law degree he was given the devastating news the cancer had returned Mahesh said: “Your life just turns upside down. You just can’t think about professions at all, life just stops.

“But my mindset was that I would never let my illness alter the course of what I wanted to do with my life.”

A report by CLIC Sargent — a charity supporting children and young people with cancer — revealed young people with cancer are worried about their education and future job prospects, but the charity also found that battling the condition has inspired young people to achieve their ambitions.

Mahesh said: “I was 21 when I was diagnosed a second time, really wanting to get on and move on with my life.

"Being away from the market for two years, it’s so easy to become stale and lose track of what’s going on.

"I almost looked at my treatment as a gap year, did all my reading and kept abreast of what was going commercially.

"I even applied for jobs and had an interview when I was ill — they didn’t know. The only way you can get over it is to just confront it head on.”

Mahesh was supported during and after his treatment by CLIC Sargent social worker James George, who helped him apply for work experience when he felt the opportunity to land a good job had been “snatched” from him.

Mahesh had his last dose of chemotherapy in April last year and completed a two-month internship at a law firm in London before taking up his scholarship.

He said: “CLIC Sargent does a fantastic job on this front but can only do so much with the money it has, so there needs to be funding to be able to do that.”