Just over two years ago, Mr Jackson, of Queenstown, was diagnosed with stage four squamous cell carcinoma — a cancer more commonly found in people who have smoked two packs a day for more than 60 years.
Next Saturday, he will be joined by about a dozen of his biggest supporters to run the New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Queenstown Marathon, celebrating his remarkable recovery and raising money for a charity which provided vital support to him and his family.
He first noticed an ulcer on his tongue not long before the initial lockdown in 2020 while studying physical education and criminology at the University of Otago.
Suspecting he had either bitten or burnt it, he was not overly worried.
The ulcer, however, remained during lockdown with his parents, who lived in Invercargill at the time, and started affecting his ability to talk and eat.
"I was probably just a bit young and naive, a southern university student, [thinking] ‘it’ll fix itself’."
He later returned to Dunedin and sat his semester one exams in excruciating pain, which was so bad he was unable to sleep.
Once his exams were finished, about four months after the ulcer first appeared and not long before his 21st birthday, he went to Student Health where he was given antibiotics, a cream and told to take painkillers. Two weeks later it had not cleared up.
He was then referred to the dental school — "fortunately, for me, there was a vacancy that day".
"I was sitting there with the doctor of the dental school and his post-graduate students — they took one look and said, ‘come back in two hours, we’re going to take a biopsy’."
Within a few days he was diagnosed with a cancer in his tongue, most commonly found in "an 80-year-old person who smokes two packs a day for their whole life", and lymph nodes.
A barrage of tests and scans followed, along with the removal of all his wisdom teeth, before he could start treatment.
While the most common treatment was to cut the cancer from the tongue and replace the tissue with skin grafts, he was told he would not be able to talk or eat for the rest of his life.
The other option was an intensive round of chemotherapy and radiation — Mr Jackson was told there was a 50% chance of it working.
"But I was like, if it doesn’t work, at least it will have shrunk the tumour so it will be less of a surgery, so I might have a wee bit more capability.
"I’m not a gambling man, but in that sense, I was a gambling man, so I said ‘we’ll see what happens’."
While he was accepting of the diagnosis, recognising all he could really control was his own mentality, Mr Jackson said it was a lot harder on his parents, Ross and Ginny, who relocated to Dunedin to be with him, and sisters Angela (30) and Brittany (29), who visited often.
After 30 rounds of radiation and six five-hour chemotherapy sessions, Mr Jackson received the news — almost two years ago — that he was in remission.
"I was actually just in the supermarket and got the call from my ENT [ear, nose and throat] specialist and she said ‘you’re free, you’re good, you’re in the clear’.
"For her it was quite cool — she’s never seen anything quite like this in her whole career.
"She retired at the start of this year and messaged saying it was really nice to help ... get me over the line. It was pretty rewarding for her, I think."
He had always wanted to do a marathon, and raise money for a charity, "so, in a sense, I’m hitting two birds with one stone".
To date, he had raised just over $5000 for the Head and Neck Cancer Support Charitable Trust, which had been a massive source of support for him and his family during his cancer journey.
"I’m very grateful and honoured to be in a position that we can raise that kind of money for a cause that probably goes a wee bit under the radar until you hear about them, or need them."
