Blood cancer, a Stem Cell Transplant and the life saver that is Anthony Nolan...

I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in October 2024. Over the next 3 months I was an inpatient at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, and, by December 2024 I had undergone two failed rounds of chemotherapy. On 13th December 2024, I was given a terminal prognosis of between 2 and 4 weeks to live. On 20th December 2025 myself and my partner, Steena, were married in hospital, before I went home to spend the rest of his days with my family.

At the end of January 2025 I went to see my Consultant and was put on a life prolonging injection based chemotherapy. In May 2025 I was referred to Kings College Hospital in London, where myself and Steena met a Consultant who proposed an experimental cocktail of chemotherapies which could potentially impact my vital organs, would send me 'to hell and back' physically and mentally, but just might get me to a place where I could be the recipient of a stem cell transplant which could lead to a remission. In early September 2024 I underwent a stem cell transplant with donor cells coming from a 28 year old male from Chile! On 30th September 2024 I was discharged from Kings College Hospital and on 30th December 2025 I was told I was in remission!

My experience and journey was been one of many low's that culminated in the ultimate high! I have relied heavily on the support of family, friends, all manner of healthcare professionals, industry peers and colleagues and everyone in between to help get me through! However, if it wasn't for Anthony Nolan and the pioneering work they do, simply put, I would not be here. Of course, the decision taken by Kings to try a cocktail of experimental chemotherapy has also played a huge part, however, chemotherapy alone was never going to be enough to get me into remission; a donor had to be found! Not only that, the donor needed to be as near a 100% match in every area so that I could have a stem cell transplant. Thankfully this turned out to be the case!

A bit about Anthony Nolan...

Anthony Nolan’s world-leading stem cell register, ground-breaking cell and gene therapy research and expertise in stem cell transplants means we currently help four patients a day in need of a transplant, giving more people another chance to live. But we know we can, and must, do more. Driven by patients, backed by stem cell donors, powered by science, and with your support, we won’t stop until we’ve uncovered the lifesaving potential of the cells inside us all, and every patient can survive and thrive.