Story
One of our team members, Mark, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (a blood cancer) in October 2024. Over the next 3 months Mark was an inpatient at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, and, by December 2024 had undergone two failed rounds of chemotherapy. On 13th December 2024, he was given a terminal prognosis of between 2 and 4 weeks to live. On 20th December 2025 Mark and his partner, Steena, were married in hospital, before Mark went home to spend the rest of his days with his family.
At the end of January 2025 Mark went to see his Consultant and was put on a life prolonging injection based chemotherapy. In May 2025 he was referred to Kings College Hospital in London, where he and Steena met a Consultant who proposed an experimental cocktail of chemotherapies which could potentially impact his vital organs, would send him 'to hell and back' physically and mentally, but just might get him to a place where he could be the recipient of a stem cell transplant which could lead to a remission. In early September 2024 Mark underwent a stem cell transplant with donor cells coming from a 28 year old male from Chile! On 30th September 2024 he was discharged from Kings College Hospital and on 30th December 2025 he was told I was in remission!
Mark's experience and journey has been one of many low's that culminated in the ultimate high! Mark has relied heavily on the support of family, friends, all manner of healthcare professionals, industry peers and colleagues and everyone in between to help get him through! However, if it wasn't for a stem cell transplant, simply put, he 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 him 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 he could have a stem cell transplant. Thankfully this turned out to be the case!
A bit about blood cancer and Cure Leukaemia...
A bit about blood cancer and Cure Leukaemia...
RUN FOR A CURE
Every 27 seconds, a life is changed forever by a blood cancer diagnosis.
You can help bring us closer to a cure by lacing up your trainers and Running For A Cure in partnership with Flutter.
Whether you’re running in honour of a loved one, celebrating being a survivor, or making a life-saving difference, your miles carry a powerful message and make a huge impact.
From your very first 5km to the challenge of a full marathon, we have a place for you. Join a community that runs with heart, and let’s outrun blood cancer together.
Don’t just run. Run with purpose. Run for them. Run For A Cure.
Team members (6)
- £9,086 of £5,000
- £886 of £1,000
- £701 of £1,000
- £570 of £500
- £268 of £500
