A younger physician was informed she has leukaemia whereas on shift in A&E only one hour after having a blood take a look at for suspected glandular fever.
Alice Bolton, 28, who divides her time between Surrey and London, was recognized with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive blood most cancers, in Might 2024 whereas working overseas in Australia.
Days beforehand, she had been working as much as 20km in preparation for a half marathon.
Nonetheless, after noticing swollen lymph nodes in her neck and bruising on her legs, she suspected glandular fever and determined to have a blood take a look at.
Only one hour later, she went from working within the medical doctors’ space of the hospital to being a affected person in a mattress.
Alice underwent chemotherapy and reached remission by October 2024, however she quickly relapsed in March 2025 and was informed she would want to have a stem cell transplant.
She and her associate Hayden had deliberate to get married in June and thought they might “must cancel” the marriage.
As a substitute they managed to organise a ceremony at Previous Marylebone City Corridor inside a matter of days.
With each her sisters, Emma, 31, who works at a biotech firm, and Kate, 29, a solicitor, being good matches for the transplant, Alice is hoping to quickly “draw a line underneath” her most cancers journey.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve two sisters who’re a match, and this would be the remedy,” Alice mentioned.
“But it surely makes you realise that even in case you are a healthcare skilled, these items can nonetheless occur.”
After finishing her medical basis coaching within the UK, Alice travelled to Melbourne, Australia, in October 2023 to work as an emergency care physician alongside her now-husband, Hayden, who can be a physician.
Throughout this time, Alice was coaching for the Nice Ocean Highway Half Marathon, working as much as 20km, however simply days earlier than the race in Might 2024, she was “struggling to run about 5km”.
“I seen that I had swollen lymph nodes in my neck and there was some bruising on my decrease legs, and I’m not one to bruise simply, so I believed I ought to most likely get a blood take a look at,” Alice defined.
Alice suspected her signs had been as a result of glandular fever, a viral an infection, however this was not the case.
“I used to be really on shift, they usually actually known as me about an hour after I’d had the blood take a look at, saying, ‘It’s essential go to A&E straightaway’,” Alice mentioned.
“I mentioned, ‘Oh, that’s bizarre, as a result of I’m really right here anyway, I work in A&E’.”
Nonetheless believing she had glandular fever, Alice thought the guide would advise her to go house to keep away from “spreading this virus across the division”.
As a substitute, she was informed she has leukaemia and he or she wanted to start out remedy instantly.
“I used to be shocked, however the factor I used to be most involved about was having to telephone house and inform my sisters and my mother and father as a result of I believe that makes it extra actual,” she mentioned.
Emma obtained the information whereas on an expedition and mentioned: “You simply by no means count on it from somebody so younger and wholesome, particularly as a result of she was speaking about all her working.”
Kate added: “Being so far-off from her was nerve-racking and stunning, however all of us rallied collectively as a household.”
On Might 16 2024, Alice was formally recognized with AML, which, in response to Leukaemia UK, has a five-year survival price of twenty-two per cent.
Alice’s mother and father and her sisters flew out to Australia and stayed along with her whereas she underwent intensive chemotherapy.
Witnessing Alice’s “unimaginable” energy, Emma mentioned: “It’s one of many hardest issues you possibly can undergo, and he or she was seeing the sunshine in each scenario, which, as siblings, makes you’re feeling extraordinarily proud.”
After finishing her first spherical of chemotherapy, Alice was robust sufficient to return to the UK in June 2024.
She continued chemotherapy in London and, by October 2024, she was in full remission, which she described as a “full reduction”.
Alice then deliberate to run the upcoming TCS London Marathon along with her sisters, however a routine bone marrow take a look at in March 2025 revealed she had relapsed, which Kate described as “merciless”.
She was then informed she would want a stem cell transplant as a part of her remedy and, extremely, Emma and Kate each turned out to be good matches.
In line with the charity Anthony Nolan, there’s solely a 6% probability that each siblings are a full match, making this a uncommon incidence.
“We’ve got this deep sister bond and after they mentioned, ‘You three are all a match’, it was actually magical,” Kate mentioned.
After relapsing, Alice realised she and Hayden must cancel or postpone their upcoming wedding ceremony in June this yr.
In order that they determined to “seize again some management” and organize a ceremony at Previous Marylebone City Corridor in London on March 15, with greater than 70 family members attending, and Alice described the marriage as “wonderful”.
Hayden added: “On the day, and even the day earlier than, the truth that Alice had relapsed didn’t come into my head as soon as, I used to be simply tremendous excited to marry the love of my life.”
Alice is presently recovering from her newest spherical of chemotherapy and, if the remedy is profitable, the stem cell transplant will happen in Might, with Kate the chosen donor.
Emma and Kate at the moment are getting ready to run the TCS London Marathon to boost funds for Leukaemia UK, with Alice hopefully cheering from the sidelines and holding an indication that reads: “Run my stem cells, run!”
Though she is now not in a position to run the marathon along with her sisters, she mentioned seeing them cross the end line on April 27 might be “tremendous emotional”.
Alice desires to provide hope to others and mentioned she and her sisters typically recite Harry Potter’s Dumbledore quote: “Happiness might be discovered even within the darkest of instances, if one solely remembers to activate the sunshine.
“Having all your family and friends round you and realizing that, particularly now with medical analysis, issues are consistently altering, (most cancers) isn’t a demise sentence.
“I believe it’s important to stay optimistic and issues will work out.”
To search out out extra or donate, go to Alice’s fundraising web page right here: justgiving.com/page/the-bolton-girls
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