I’m running the London marathon on 21 April 2024 to raise money and awareness for blood cancer.

My experience of blood cancer is very personal and close to my heart - I’ve been in remission now for 6 years, after a tough 4 year battle with Blood Cancer. Blood cancer turns the life upside down of the person going through it, but also the family and loved ones who, overnight, turn into their carers. 

I was diagnosed with ‘Hodgkin Lymphoma’ at the age of 31. I was very active, ate well and had just become a father. We had a 6 week old daughter, Amelie. Symptoms of blood cancer can be very non specific. I had a cough that I couldn’t fight off, was itchy, and was experiencing night sweats and we finally realised something serious was wrong when I discovered a lump the size of a conker in my arm pit. It turns out, these are all classic symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.

It was a huge life curve ball for us. We clung on to the fact that Hodgkins Lymphoma is described as a very ‘treatable’ form of cancer which required 6 months chemotherapy, a shot every 2 weeks. The chemo was tough, and after numerous hospital admissions, we received the incredible news that I was in remission. We thought my cancer journey was over. Our life returned to a new ‘normal’ and we were delighted to find out that Esther was pregnant with our second child, a huge miracle after such a difficult time for us

But I was one of the unfortunate ones, and 8 months after getting the ‘all clear’, I relapsed (the cancer came back). The day we had our 20 week scan for our baby, was also the day we heard that the relapse was very aggressive. The cancer spread to many parts of my body (stage 4) without me realising. I’d felt more tired than usual, but that was it. I’d put this tiredness down to the fact we had a toddler. The only hope of a cure was a stem cell transplant from a donor and chemotherapy continued until a donor was identified.

To find a donor, the team at St Georges in London started by testing my brother to see if he was a match. He wasn’t. At that point, the team reached out to the Global Stem Cell Register. A few weeks later, we received the amazing news that a donor had been found, and I was scheduled for a transplant. 

At that point you know nothing about the donor. You don’t know where in the world they are. You’re just hoping and praying that they follow-through as a donor. It’s one thing taking the call and saying ‘yes’ you’ll do it. It’s something else actually turning up and donating.

I had my transplant in September 2017, 5 days after our 2nd child, Louis, was born. I was put in an isolated room for 3 months with no visitors allowed apart from wife, Esther, and our daughter, Amelie, who could wave from the hospital window. The stem cells arrived by motorbike courier in a tiny bag. This bag of blood looked so insignificant and very similar to the many blood transfusions I’d received, but it was a life saving bag of stem cells. I was given the transplant, and what’s amazing medically is that the stem cells which weren’t used were frozen, in case, I ever need them again.

My recovery from a transplant was slow. A stem cell transplant was described to us as one of the most complex medical procedures. I lost 1/3rd of my body weight, caught lots of viruses and struggled with doing basic things such as eating, getting out of bed and taking a shower

I was finally sent home for Christmas to regain strength and recover. Recovery took a year with lots of hospital visits and curve balls along the way.

We always wondered who this amazing human was who donated his stem cells and literally gave me the gift of life. My donor is a guy a similar age to me- Si, (or as we know him, “Super-Si”), a dad who lives in Cornwall with 2 children the same age as ours and a wonderful wife, Hannah. We arranged to meet and the connection between the 2 families was incredible.  Si describes donating stem cells as one of the best decision of his life.

I feel very lucky to come through the above and live a largely normal life. Words can never express how grateful we are to the NHS teams who treated me and to my amazing donor who gave me the gift of live, which means my children still have their daddy in their lives and my wife, Esther, has a husband.

Thanks for reading and I hope between us we can help those affected by blood cancer and fund research to mean in the future, blood cancer is a thing of the past.

About Blood cancer UK: We're a community dedicated to beating blood cancer. We do this by funding research and supporting those affected. Since 1960, we've invested over £500 million in blood cancer research, transforming treatments and saving lives. Right now, our community is funding 360 researchers and staff across the UK who are searching for the next breakthrough. The day we will beat blood cancer is now in sight and the researchers are determined to finish the job.