Two weeks after his 52nd birthday in March, my dad was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), a rare form of cancer affecting around 2,000 adults and 50 children in the UK each year. There is little known about the cause of this disease and, as in the majority of cases of AML, no trigger or factors which may have increased the risk of him developing the condition could be identified. Only 50 years ago, the five year survival rate of patients with AML was as low as 14%. Thanks to research, it has more than quadrupled since then and 6 months into his treatment my dad has now achieved a state of remission after undergoing an initial round of induction chemotherapy followed by a further 2 rounds of consolidation therapy. Coming from a family of 8 children, he was fortunate to find a bone marrow match among his siblings and is currently preparing for a stem cell transplant in a number of weeks. Although recovery from this procedure can take up to a year, it is hoped it will minimise the possibility of a relapse and offer him the best chance of curing the disease. Since my dad’s diagnosis, I have been lucky to meet some amazing people and families going through similar experiences and hope that any money raised will help to fund research to continue improving the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of leukaemia for these patients and other families in the future.