Latest news with #LeukaemiaUK
Daily Mirror
08-08-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I couldn't lift head off pillow - they said I wouldn't make Christmas'
Lucy Musgrave, 58, was diagnosed after experiencing severe exhaustion A mother-of-four who was told she "wouldn't make it to Christmas" after being diagnosed with leukaemia has performed a cartwheel every single day to mark reaching remission. Urban designer Lucy Musgrave, 58, from London, received her acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) diagnosis - a " very aggressive" form of blood cancer - in September 2021 following bouts of severe fatigue. Her consultant warned that without immediate treatment, she wouldn't survive until Christmas that year. Lucy, who founded research and urban design practice Publica, received blood transfusions and began intensive chemotherapy within days, enduring six months of hospital stays throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Following her inpatient care in March 2022, she commenced maintenance chemotherapy and in November that year, friends whisked her away to Mexico, where she performed 12 cartwheels on the beach - one to "mark every month of survival". From January 2023, Lucy has executed a cartwheel daily - including at the Old Bailey, outside St Paul's Cathedral and on the red carpet at the Baftas - and has partnered with Leukaemia UK for the charity's new Cartwheel for a Cure campaign to generate funds for vital research. Lucy, who is now dubbed the "Cartwheel Queen", said: "I dived straight into the sea and when I came out, I did 12 cartwheels on the beach (in Mexico) – one for each month of that terrible year. That moment of joy sparked something. "The survival rates for AML are absolutely devastating, which is why I'm doing all the fundraising. I don't want anyone, any family, to ever, ever, ever have to go through what we went through." According to Leukaemia UK, nearly 3,100 people receive an AML diagnosis in the UK each year, with almost 80% failing to survive beyond five years. Signs include tiredness, pallid skin, regular infections, breathlessness, unexplained weight loss, easy bruising and bleeding, plus bone pain. Lucy revealed she had experienced "mild shingles" – a viral infection – during spring 2021 and felt completely drained. "We went on holiday down to Cornwall, and I literally couldn't lift my head off the pillow – it was terrible," she recalled. Lucy, who lives with husband Zad, the founder of Atomized Studios, arranged a video consultation with her GP, who suggested she had "picked up another virus". But as her exhaustion continued, she sensed something wasn't right and booked a private appointment with a different GP. "I went to see this GP, he took a blood test, and he phoned me the next day and said, 'Could you go to A&E now, please?'," Lucy said. "I just thought, 'Well, thank goodness someone's taking this seriously. I haven't got post-viral fatigue'." Lucy recounted her experience at University College London Hospital (UCLH), where she was so exhausted that she could barely sit upright and had to lie down on an empty hospital bed. After a nurse performed a bone marrow biopsy, she was moved to another ward and informed that her husband had been called to the hospital. "I thought, 'OK, here we go. I'm going to be told I've got cancer and, well, that's OK. I've had this amazing life and I've been so lucky'," Lucy said. "What's the worst thing they could tell me? They're going to tell me I've got six months to live." On September 9, 2021, a consultant broke the news to Lucy that she had AML and, without treatment, she might only have three months left. She said: "The consultant said it's curable and it was his job to ensure I made it to my 80s or 90s, but if we didn't start treatment straight away, I wouldn't make it to Christmas. I never thought it would be less than six months... so I said, 'Bring it on. When can we start?' But then I looked to my side and saw my husband looking completely broken. It hit me then that this wasn't just about me, but this was going to be incredibly difficult and traumatic for my family too, particularly my daughters." Surrounded by her "incredible" team of medics and nursing staff, Lucy felt reassured about her treatment programme and began chemotherapy within days. Despite enduring side effects including mouth ulcers, sickness and losing her hair, Lucy said concentrating on "positive energy" and backing from family helped her through the moments when she felt "broken". "People say this language of 'fighting cancer', but with blood cancer, it's literally in every cell of your body. You can't fight your own body," she said. "I just knew I had this minuscule piece of energy.... and, in my mind, I just kept thinking, if I can hang on to that positive energy and if I can grow it, I can get through this." Lucy finished her hospital treatment in March 2022 and began a year of ongoing chemotherapy and is now in remission. The "surreal" experience of her shocking diagnosis and recovery prompted Lucy to launch a fundraising campaign – and it all began with 12 cartwheels on holiday in Mexico. "I'm here because of medical science and the NHS and a lot of love," she said. "Doctors said at the time that, if I had been diagnosed five years earlier, they wouldn't have been able to treat me. That's why I'm cartwheeling – it's this tiny movement for joy, this tiny bit of positive energy." Since January 2023, Lucy has been performing a cartwheel every day, no matter where she is, and filming it to celebrate her remission. She's managed to raise more than £28,500 for the Haematology Cancer Care (HCC) unit at UCLH. Her cartwheels have taken place at iconic locations such as the Old Bailey, Tube stations, and even outside St Paul's Cathedral. She's also hoping to perform her acrobatic feat with the Lionesses and at various institutions like ballet schools, sports clubs, and primary schools across the country. After completing her 1,000th cartwheel in June, Lucy kicked off a new national campaign with Leukaemia UK called Cartwheel for a Cure. She hopes this "movement for joy" will help raise as much money as possible. "I want to spend the next 12 months limbering up the nation and practising our cartwheels, and then on June 30 forevermore, it will be national cartwheeling day and we're going to raise a lot more money on that day," she declared. Lucy is urging people not to hesitate in getting any unusual symptoms checked out and to never be afraid to "ask for help". "The sad thing is that every family in the UK is going to be touched in some shape or form by cancer," she said. "I've learned to squeeze every inch and ounce out of life because of this life-threatening disease and now I'm fearless. I'm hoping I'll be cartwheeling into my 80s." For more information, visit: or search @lucy. musgrave or @cartwheelforacure on Instagram.
Graziadaily
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
Saffron Vadher: From Catwalks to Cameras – Grazia's Cover Star on Her Acting Debut and Giving Back
This year is shaping up to be quite the chapter for Saffron Vadher. The model, who spent the last decade walking the most exalted catwalks and fronting fashion's glossiest covers, is about to flip the lens. This time, it's film director Alex Marx behind the camera and Vadher is stepping into her first acting role in The Queen Of Fashion , a biopic about the indomitable style doyenne Isabella Blow, alongside Richard E. Grant, Dane DeHaan, Andrea Riseborough and Joe Cole. 'This is my first film and I'm so excited, it feels surreal,' she tells Grazia . 'I met Alex a few years ago and we spoke about this project, my modelling experience and wanting to step into acting. Now, here we are, living the dreams we both spoke about.' Vadher, a breakout model in 2016 and by 2018 gracing Vogue , acknowledges the crossover between the two disciplines. 'I'm very comfortable in front of the camera and that is something modelling has given me. You learn how to take direction quickly and stay calm under pressure,' she explains. 'There is tons of overlap. You're stepping into something that isn't fully you, whether that is for a runway or a shoot. You embody a different mood, a different character, someone else's vision. But with acting, you have to go deeper. What I've loved about this project is that it is set in the fashion world, a place where I've spent 10 years.' And Vadher isn't putting her feet up between takes. Beside her back-to-back bookings, she's still carving out time for the charity Leukaemia UK, herself a survivor of childhood leukaemia. 'It's important to give back and to a cause that is close to my heart. I feel incredibly privileged to be in a position where I can help raise awareness, support the work Leukaemia UK is doing and speak to families about what they are going through. No matter how busy life gets, I want to stay connected to something bigger than myself.' Model @saffron at @vivamodel wearing @dior ; Photographer @_melanie__rodriguez_ ; Style Director @whatmollysees ; HMUA @ @diorbeauty ; Photography Assistant @ ; Fashion Assistant @ ; Runner Rafa Grandvalira ; Shoot Producer @midnightdominator ; Editor in Chief: @hattie_brett ; Creative Director: @cazroberts ; Associate Editor: @rebeccalowthorpe ; Style Director: @whatmollysees ; Special thanks to @theluxurytravelbook Henrik Lischke is the senior fashion news and features editor at Grazia. Prior to that, he worked at British Vogue, and was junior fashion editor at The Sunday Times Style.
Daily Mirror
09-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'My weird handprint-shaped bruise saved my life after a devastating diagnosis'
Nichola Smith from Glasgow first noticed unusual bruising on her arms, but she had no idea it was the first sign of a life-threatening illness that she would face, not once, but three separate times At 12 years old, Nichola Smith noticed unusual bruising on her arms, with one shaped like a handprint. But it was far from a scrape in the playground or a play fight with her brother, as it led to a devastating diagnosis that she could never imagine. In January 1994, Nichola, from Glasgow, was a typical pre-teen before she started to feel persistently unwell. For weeks, the 12 year old had high temperatures, fatigue and experienced bouts of diarrhoea. Then one day, after play-fighting with her brother and cousins, as any typical child does, she spotted something unusual "I remember one of them had grabbed me," said Nichola, now 44, "and it left a bruise on my arm in the shape of a handprint." Not thinking too much into it at the time, Nichola went to her GP with her mum and was told she had a viral illness. She was sent home and told to attend a precautionary blood test the following week. READ MORE: 'I went for a quick eye test after breaking my glasses - days later I had surgery' However, in just a few days, Nichola had collapsed at home and was rushed to hospital. Just hours later, Nichola was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). Leukaemia UK reports that 37% of all leukaemia cases are diagnosed in emergency departments, a figure significantly higher than the average of 21% for all other cancers. Delays in diagnosis can result in limited treatment options and a reduced chance of survival. Currently, there are 60,000 people living with leukaemia in the UK. Nichola recalled: "Mum watched a lot of medical programmes and as soon as I was taken to hospital she said she had a feeling it was leukaemia. "She knew that the extreme bruises were a symptom. I went into complete panic mode. I thought I was going to die." Nichola underwent treatment for AML immediately, with several blood transfusions and five rounds of chemotherapy. On the road to recovery, she returned home, but devastatingly, by July 1995, she was told that her leukaemia had returned. This led the teenager to undergo a bone marrow transplant six months later to try and put her into remission. They couldn't find a suitable match with family members or on the donor register, so instead, Nichola received an autologous transplant – a transplant from her own cells. The transplant was a success, and Nichola soon went into remission. She was able to return to normal life as a teenager, went back to school before attending college and started her career working in a nursery. Nichola underwent regular testing to monitor the potential after-effects of the treatment she endured. In 2006, at the age of 26, one of these appointments revealed she had pre-cancerous cells in both her breasts, a common side effect of the leukaemia treatment she had received all those years ago. "It was another trauma to get through," she said. "They said I would need a double mastectomy. I had three major operations and a lot of recovery time. I still get checked every year for any breast cancer cells." But that wasn't the last of the bad news that Nichola had to face. In January 2022, she contracted COVID-19 and struggled to recover. After undergoing tests, it tragically revealed that she had myelodysplasia - a blood cancer that could eventually lead to AML. Nichola said: "I was devastated. I kept saying to myself, 'Here we go again' and 'why me?'. I have had so much bad luck in my life with my health and I couldn't believe I was going to have to fight again." She was initially put on a 'watch and wait' regime, followed by blood transfusions. Come August 2023, the situation escalated as her blood cancer advanced, needing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and another stem cell transplant. Thanks to advancements in cancer treatment since her initial stem cell transplant in 1996, Nichola's brother, Andrew, could donate stem cells despite only being a 50% match. Miraculously, the transplant turned out to be a success. "Since my first leukaemia diagnosis, I feel like I have built a resilience and a wall that hides how I feel. But at times that wall crashes down," Nichola admitted. "I am still young, and it shouldn't be like that. Cancer has taken a lot from me, but I am grateful to still be here. After four cancers, I hope I can have a normal life but for now, I'm taking it one day at a time." Nichola is courageously sharing her story in support of the #SPOTLeukaemia campaign, spearheaded by Leukaemia UK and Leukaemia Care, to spotlight the warning signs of leukaemia. Shockingly, 28 people in the UK are diagnosed with leukaemia every day, yet the symptoms can be so diverse and widespread that diagnoses are frequently missed or incorrect. The most common symptoms of leukaemia are: Extreme tiredness (fatigue) Bruising Unusual bleeding Repeated infections This year, the #SPOTLeukaemia message will be hard to miss. Leukaemia UK and Leukaemia Care have teamed up with JCDecaux Community Channel, an initiative from the UK's leading out-of-home media owner JCDecaux UK, to bring the campaign to more than 150 digital billboards in major cities across the UK, including eight in Scotland. The campaign will run until the end of June.
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Leukaemia patient hopes to cheer on sisters in London Marathon
A woman with leukaemia who went from a doctor to a patient in the same hospital is hoping to be well enough to cheer on her sisters at the London Bolton, 28, from Surrey, was living in Melbourne, Australia, and working as an emergency care doctor when she noticed her energy levels dropping."One week I was able to run 20km but the next I was struggling to run 5km," she said."I also noticed swollen lymph nodes in my neck and bruising on my legs so thought I should get a blood test as I suspected I had a viral illness like glandular fever." She had the blood test at the hospital where she worked and said a doctor soon called telling her to go to A&E an hour, Ms Bolton went from being on shift to being a patient in a bed. And on 16 May 2024, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).Every year, almost 3,100 people in the UK are diagnosed with AML, a fast growing, aggressive blood cancer, according to charity Leukaemia Bolton's sisters Emma, 31, and Kate, 29, will run Sunday's marathon on her behalf, raising money for the charity. Following her first round of chemotherapy, Ms Bolton was strong enough to return to the UK and continued treatment in October, she was in full remission, rebuilding her strength through running and was hoping to run the marathon with her a routine test in March this year revealed that she had relapsed and would need a stem cell transplant as part of her treatment. 'Run my stem cells, run' Her sisters were perfect matches, which Leukaemia UK said was "an exceptionally rare occurrence with only a 6% likelihood"."When we found out, it felt like magic," Kate said. "It reaffirmed the deep bond we've always had."Ms Bolton is hoping to be well enough to cheer her sisters on and plans to hold a sign saying: "Run my stem cells, run."Emma added: "Running became a source of strength for us all."We'll be running for Alice and everyone affected by leukaemia." Also running the 26.2 mile (41km) course will be 37-year-old Elliot Awin, from Dorking, who had a pacemaker fitted in 2024, he became the first person with a pacemaker to complete a solo row across the will run for the British Heart Foundation having been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a heart condition that makes your heartbeat abnormally fast, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, in 2015."My heart condition might have changed the course of my life, but I would never have rowed across the Atlantic if it hadn't been because of it," he said."I've never let my heart condition stop me from achieving my goals and hope that I can inspire others to do the same."
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Sheffield parents to run London Marathon for daughter with leukeamia
A couple from Sheffield are running the London Marathon to raise money for Leukaemia UK, after their four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with the disease. Freyja Harpham and Zac Turner, both 30, said they decided to take on the 26.2 mile (42km) challenge on Sunday to "turn their pain into purpose". Their daughter, Billie, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in 2022, and has undergone chemotherapy and a tracheostomy, a procedure to help her breathe but which has left her unable to speak. Ms Harpham said: "The chemotherapy they use is so harsh on little kids' bodies. It would be nice to have a future where there are kinder treatments." Billie was just 21 months old when she came down with what appeared to be a sickness bug. Mr Harpham said: "She'd been vomiting for two days, so we rang the GP who told us to take her straight to A&E. "They said it was just gastroenteritis and she would get over it soon." However, over the next few weeks Billie started to experience other symptoms, including a high temperature, bruising, and a Billie started to struggle with breathing, her parents rushed her back to hospital and in November 2022 Billie was diagnosed with ALL - rare type of blood cancer, most often diagnosed in children aged 0-4 years. "I felt like the world was about to end. I knew deep down something was wrong with her, but we never expected that," Ms Harpham said. "She went through two-and-a-half years of treatment and finished in February this year. "She is doing really well now, but one of the chemotherapies that Billie received paralysed her vocal chords, so she ended up having to have a tracheostomy which she has still got now. "It has got to stay for the moment, but she is fine now, she is doing really well and she is the happiest little girl in the world." Ms Harpham and Mr Turner will be among 32 people running the marathon for the Benson, Community and Challenge Events Manager at Leukaemia UK, said: "We are so grateful to our amazing supporters running the London Marathon for us this Sunday and cannot wait to cheer them on. "Their incredible support will help Leukaemia UK fund ground-breaking research into kinder and more effective treatments to stop leukaemia from devastating lives."The charity said blood cancer, of which leukaemia is a type, is the fifth most common type of cancer and the third biggest cancer killer in the UK. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
