James was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) on the 5th of August 2024. It was a shock diagnosis; James was extremely fit and well, had no symptoms, and the leukaemia was simply picked up on a blood test for something unrelated. Overnight, life completely changed: James had to give up work, a planned family holiday was cancelled and he has had to spend many weeks away from his wife and two young children having treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In January 2025, he had a stem cell transplant, where his own cells were replaced with an unrelated donor’s. Although stem cell transplants are extremely hard on the body and come with a range of complications and side effects, the particular mutation of James’s leukaemia meant that without the transplant, the leukaemia would return and would not be treatable.

Not so long ago, James’s prognosis would have been bleak. ALL is an aggressive disease with a high rate of relapse unless the correct treatments are administered. Because of the ongoing research into blood cancers such as leukaemia, James has a good chance of living a long and healthy life post-treatment. This research is largely funded by charities such as Blood Cancer UK, and it is vital that research continues in order to give people with blood cancers the best chance of survival.