Hard-working Alex Gaisford, a finance assistant at Zurich in Swindon, admits he was once the typical teenager – a little lazy at school and happiest when out with his friends or enjoying adventures in motocross.

But this carefree life changed dramatically. Aged 17, in a motocross race, he noticed something strange – he could not quite see part of the track.

“That whole day I felt slightly off,” he recalls. “I felt cold. Then I couldn’t really see part of the track. My vision was blurred.”

This was July 2011. At first Alex paid little attention to the strange symptoms, but a couple of months later, he started throwing up.

“I didn’t eat for 24 hours, but that didn’t stop me throwing up. I went to the doctor’s because I was losing weight, and they thought I had labyrinthitis – an inner ear infection.”

Alex, from Colerne, carried on going to Corsham School but he was starting to struggle.

“I would take soft bread rolls and soup for lunch, but I couldn’t eat them,” he said. “Another week or so went by and I couldn’t deal with it any more. I lost a couple of stone.”

He went back to the doctor and underwent more tests, including an eye investigation.

“Something was not right with my eyes,” he says. “I was booked in to see a consultant at Bath Royal United Hospital that afternoon. I had an MRI scan. When I saw the expression of the staff I thought ‘this is not good news’.

“They had found something and were worried it was cancerous. My mum rang my dad and started breaking down – and I thought ‘maybe this is serious’.”

It turned out Alex had a brain tumour. He was taken to Frenchay Hospital, and a few days later, underwent surgery for eight and a half hours to remove the tumour.

He says the day after the surgery was the worst day of his life.

“I woke in a lot of pain, and I was so thirsty,” he recalls. “They had to wake me up every half hour to check I was okay.”

After a couple of days, Alex was on the mend and he started eating again – and he had a lot of missed meals to catch up on.

“I had lots of people coming in to see me and bringing chocolates. I even had chocolate and custard!”

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy followed the surgery. His parents took him to Bristol for radiotherapy five days a week for six weeks, and he had eight lots of chemotherapy in a six-week cycle. The treatment was arduous and exhausting for the whole family. The chemotherapy went on for just over a year in the end.

“By the end of the cycle in week six, I would be feeling good,” he says. “It was hard knowing that week one, when I woke up in the morning, I’d have to start again.

“Chemo destroys your body. I didn’t feel like doing anything.”

He lost the feeling in his feet and had to use a wheelchair. He spent long days on the sofa, feeling uncomfortable, playing on his X-Box.

Parents Jim and Penny cared for him and transported him to his treatment. Brothers Jeremy and Ross variously pushed him around in the wheelchair very fast, or complained it was not fair he got out of doing the washing up.

As he could not go to school, Alex had a private tutor teaching him A level economics, and his 18th birthday passed during his chemotherapy. But the treatment proved to be a success and gradually Alex began to recover his health and fitness.

“My mum started encouraging me to do stuff,” he says. “She was looking online, telling me it was time I started doing something.”

In the end, he signed up for a level 2 accountancy course at Wiltshire College Chippenham. The charity CLIC Sargent, for children and young people with cancer, helped him find a work experience placement at Zurich in Swindon, as the company had chosen CLIC Sargent as a charity partner.

Alex impressed Zurich so much, he got his first job with the company a year-long maternity cover, doing financial administration with the Zurich Community Trust.

“We had two people going on maternity leave and we needed to get cover for them,” said Claire Bouverie-Brine, admin risk and audit manager for the Zurich Community Trust. “I had heard there was a young lad working in finance on work experience who had the right qualities. I made enquiries and thought let’s see if we can help Alex.”

Claire felt a particular wish to support Alex in his career as she had experienced cancer too – more than 20 years before. “I could identify with what he had gone through, and he showed a positive attitude,” she said. “I thought he needed to be given a chance.”

Alex made the most of that chance and impressed his colleagues with his dedication and competence. He successfully applied to be an apprentice in the finance department, and gained a level 4 qualification in a year, attending college one day a week.

Now Alex, 23, has completed his finance apprenticeship and is working as a finance assistant in Zurich’s financial reporting team. He is studying for accountancy exams, having already achieved his Higher National Diploma in Accounting, and plans to study for his ACCA qualifications – the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants – which is likely to take three years or more – to achieve his dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant.

“I really enjoy the job,” he says. “I don’t regret not going to university. Sure I would have enjoyed the party, but what happened to me made me really think what I wanted to do.”

He is also happy he was earning while studying, and has not acquired large student debts.

Alex still loves motocross and when he is not working, it is motorbikes that fill his leisure time – he has six of them.

“It’s always been my passion,” he says. “I am still loving it.”

Zurich employs around 600 people in Swindon, and 6,000 across the UK. It has invested heavily in its apprenticeship programme to help them attract the best quality applicants and develop their potential to become the future leaders of tomorrow.

Alex and his family endured worry and heartache during his illness but he says the break from education prompted him to rethink his future:

“It made me take a year off and think about what I really wanted to do,” he said.

“I am very happy with the path I have taken.”