Paul Street, Nigel Street, Major Brendan Touhey OBE and Anthony Green

We are cycling from London to Paris from the 4th to 8th June 2026 as part of the celebrations to mark my 19th Year of remission from Hairy Cell Leukaemia. And to help raise vital funds to help beat blood cancers.

My diagnosis

It started in 2006 with me visiting my GP on four separate occasions to inform her that I felt unwell. I couldn't really put a finer point on it, just that I felt unwell. Initially my GP thought I might be suffering from stress, so other than some advice on that topic no further tests were carried out.

What made me realise I was really ill was the Christmas and New Year period 2006/2007. I couldn't finish a glass of wine – decent wine at that – so I knew it was serious!

I hastily took myself off to the Doctors in early January and insisted that some tests were carried out. As luck would have it I was able to have a blood test that very day. The following day my GP tracked me down to inform me that my results showed that I was seriously deficient in iron, and "did I have Medical Insurance, as we need to get you to a Consultant right away".

A few days later I visited my Consultant who re-tested my blood and then slipped into the subsequent conversation: "the trouble with these types of Leukaemia's is.....................................................................................

Imagine my surprise.....I had been thinking a few decent steaks would solve the matter. I had quite a bit of knowledge of Leukaemia as my Grandfather sadly died from it in 1977 when I was a teenager, so I immediately knew that the treatment was not going to be much fun.

I was 42 years of age at the time of my diagnosis, one of the rare forms of Blood Cancer known as Hairy Cell Leukaemia.

Undergoing chemotherapy, and my darkest moments:

As my blood count was so low I duly commenced treatment within a matter of days. I was prescribed a combination of Chemotherapy (Cladribine) and a non-chemo drug called Rituximab which is now more commonly available, but at the time was not licensed for use in this combination. Within days the chemo had started to do its thing, and I was somewhat bed-ridden if not totally so. I then experienced the usual complications of infections, high temperatures, nausea, and all manner of other side effects from the concoction of drugs I ingested daily. Indeed, I remember 'enjoying' my 43rd Birthday in hospital hooked up to a bag of chemo for the day!

Over a period of the next few weeks and months I had a few scary moments where I required urgent hospitalisation for various complications and some of those stays in hospital were, I have to say, my darkest moments.

Making a full recovery, and enjoying life to the full.

My treatment turned out to be a terrific success and after a couple of months rest period I endured a second course of Chemo/Rituximab to 'gold plate' my initial course, as my Consultant put it. The second time around my body tolerated the drugs more robustly and I sailed through entering full remission only 5 months after diagnosis.

Looking back and knowing what I now know about many of the 137 forms of Blood Cancer I realise that I was somewhat fortunate to be diagnosed with such a treatable form of the disease.

By a sad coincidence my Grandfather died from Leukaemia in 1977 when I was just 13, however it was my own diagnosis of the rare form known as 'Hairy Cell Leukaemia' in 2007 which really inspired me to get fully involved with fundraising.

Had I been diagnosed 'say' 30 years earlier there were limited treatments available and my prognosis would undoubtedly have been less than positive!

Clearly my personal survival owes a great deal to the work and efforts of those before me. Hence you will appreciate my appetite to further help others by continuing to dedictae my time to fundraising and help find a cure to beat blood cancers of all types.

So, if you can spare a 'few quid' to sponsor me, (yet again!) I shall be eternally grateful.

Paul x

Cure Leukaemia helps blood cancer patients to access pioneering drug and transplant treatments by funding a network of specialist research nurses across the UK. Without these nurses, to ensure patients are monitored and cared for, clinical trials of these new treatments would not run and patients, that have exhausted standard treatment options, would miss out on potentially lifesaving therapies. Every penny raised for Cure Leukaemia helps save lives and also hastens global progress towards the eradication of all forms of blood cancer.