A man from a village near Harrogate who was told he had two weeks to live is backing a research project to find new treatments for cancer.

Stephen Young, 73, who lives in Brackenthwaite, experienced unusual symptoms last summer including a constantly bleeding nose, a rash on his face, mouth ulcers and shortness of breath.

His GP initially treated him for rosacea and gave him a nasal cream, but the symptoms worsened.

When Stephen returned to the doctor, he had blood tests and was offered a chest x-ray – which revealed a major infection in his lungs.

After being sent by ambulance to A&E at Harrogate District Hospital, company chairman Stephen was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). The blood cancer claims more than 2,600 lives a year in the UK – and Stephen’s case was so advanced he was told that, without treatment, he had just two weeks to live.

He said:

“Treatment began at 2am in the morning on July 2. By 4am, the team had started my first round of chemo and treatment for my chest infection which remained a stubborn complication for a further three weeks.

“It was touch and go whether I would pull through.”

Fortunately, the treatment was effective and, nine months on, Stephen is in remission and is hoping for a stem cell transplant later this year to improve his long-term prognosis.

However, the impact on his life continues. He said:

“AML treatment compromises the immune system and makes you very vulnerable to any and all infections. The threat of sepsis is ever-present.

“The need for social distancing between me and my loved ones, and being unable to hug and play with my grandchildren is, for me, AML’s greatest torment.”

Read more:

• Harrogate couple run 127 miles in aid of Motor Neurone Disease charity
• Ex-soldier to walk 104km in a day for homelessness charity

With World AML Day being marked next Friday, April 21, Leukaemia UK is calling on people to help fund more research into the disease and improve the survival rates. Chief executive Fiona Hazell said:

“Important discoveries are happening all the time within leukaemia research.

“With just 15% of AML patients surviving longer than five years after their diagnosis, it’s clear that more effective, kinder, targeted treatments are critically needed. At Leukaemia UK, we know that research has the power to one day stop leukaemia devastating lives.”

Funding from Leukaemia UK has already helped Dr Konstantinos Tzelepis at a research team at the University of Cambridge to discover a new drug which targets a key protein involved in AML growth and survival.

The charity has now announced funding for a new project which will look at ways to target another protein in the disease.

Stephen’s wife Eugenie said:

“We were completely traumatised when the doctor told us Steve had acute myeloid leukaemia. That’s why I am so committed to joining the campaign to raise awareness about blood cancer symptoms.

“The earlier the disease is spotted the better the chance of successful treatment, prognosis and quality of life.”

As well as helping to fund research, Leukaemia UK is urging people to be aware of the symptoms and visit their GP if they are concerned. Diagnosis can often be delayed, frequently happening in A&E when a patient is severely unwell, because the signs can be confused with other, more common symptoms.

Ms Hazell added:

“As with many diseases, earlier diagnosis improves the chances of successful treatment.

“We want to encourage people to trust their instincts when something is wrong and visit their GP to push for that all important blood test, which is the only way to properly diagnose AML.”

A Harrogate pilates instructor will embark on a personal mission later this month to strike back at the cancer that saw her husband rushed to A&E, fighting for his life. 

Eugenie Keogh will hold a marathon 18-hour pilates session on Zoom from her studio at North Rigton, to raise awareness of the symptoms of leukaemia, a cancer of the blood which kills around 13 people every day in the UK. 

“The early diagnosis of leukaemia remains elusive because the symptoms are often overlooked, and the disease only diagnosed when a person ends up at A&E department struggling for life,” she said.

Eugenie’s husband Stephen was rushed to Harrogate A&E last summer with a combination of classic leukaemia symptoms: shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, a skin rash, an ulcerated mouth, frequent nose bleeds and night sweats. The couple were left “completely traumatised” when the aggressive blood cancer Acute Myloid Leukaemia (AML) was diagnosed.

In the weeks before, Stephen had sought medical help about individual symptoms, but these had not been linked or resulted in a blood test.

Eugenie said: “This resulted in a late diagnosis for Stephen, which is why I am supporting the campaign to raise awareness among GPs about blood cancer symptoms. The earlier the disease is spotted, the better the chance of effective treatment, prognosis and quality of life.”

Stephen has responded well to the treatment regime for AML and is now awaiting a bone marrow stem-cell transplant. 

“This is the only chance for me to achieve complete remission and hopefully a cure,” he said.

Eugenie Keogh is a qualified APPI instructor and operates one-to-one and Zoom online classes from her Body & Soul Pilates studio in North Rigton near Harrogate.

As well as raising awareness, Eugenie’s pilates marathon on Zoom on January 29 will also raise funds for Leukaemia UK, a charity that works to fund innovative research and support those affected by leukaemia blood cancers. Well-wishers can support her campaign at her Just Giving page.

Anyone making a donation will also be invited to keep Eugenie company by logging on at any time for any of the pilates sessions, which will start on the hour every hour from 6am, with the last session ending at midnight.

Read more:

• Starbeck woman, 67, takes on swimming charity challenge
• Harrogate girls to cut hair to raise funds for friend with leukaemia
• Harrogate district women undress for Calendar Girls revival