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.”
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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:
Young Harrogate director races to make last film following terminal diagnosis“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 young Harrogate director who has been given just five more years to live is racing against time to make his final film.
Joe Cash, 30, has enjoyed a successful career working as a stuntman and prop artist on big-budget Hollywood movies including the Mad Max, Jurassic Park and Fast & Furious franchises. And when the Covid pandemic shut the film industry down, he started to make his own independent horror films.
But in October 2022 he was diagnosed with bone cancer, and in December he received worse news still: he has a brain tumour and his life expectancy has fallen to five years. He is expected to lose his memory within the next 12 months.
Joe said:
“There’s stuff I’ve forgotten already.
“We’ll be filming my last film, Carnal Redemption, in Harrogate and Driffield in August this year. I’ve already storyboarded the whole thing, so that if I’ve lost my memory by the time we begin filming, I can use it as a cheatsheet.
“After I was diagnosed, I decided to use my life savings to make this film happen, so it now has a £130,000 budget. Most of that is going on stunts with helicopters and cars – which we’re going to smash up!”
Joe’s Hollywood work started in 2005, and since then he’s been shot by Han Solo when playing a stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and even broke three vertebrae when a stunt when wrong while standing in for Johnny Depp during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Joe Cash will be directing on the set of his last film, Carnal Redemption, this summer.
His more recent work has involved a radical change of genre, and an inevitable drop in budget. His made his first independent film, Jezebel, for just £30.
He said:
“The shoestring budget was the whole point.
“I thought I could make a film for less than the price of a night out. It was a terrible film, but it ended up being shown at 150 film festivals, winning 30 awards, and gaining lots of recognition from the film industry. It taught me a lot.”
His next film, Carnal Monsters, was made for just £500, and his last film, Calling Nurse Meow, was banned in 40 countries, reportedly becoming the most banned film in for 42 years – a record Joe is proud of.
Joe Cash made Carnal Monsters on a budget of just £500.
Joe added:
“For me, that’s a badge of pride. For a horror film to get banned gets people talking about it. We’re trying to set a new Guinness World Record.”
Carnal Redemption will start filming in the summer and Joe hopes it will be ready in time for a premiere in January and release next spring.
Joe said:
“I’ve put most of my life savings into this – I’m going all out. If there’s one film to remember me by, this is it.”
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Harrogate mum shares daughter’s brain tumour battle
A Harrogate mum has shared how her daughter overcame a brain tumour after being diagnosed aged two.
Marnie Downie-Keally, now seven, was diagnosed with a type of brain tumour called low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma in March 2017.
She underwent surgery to decompress cysts that were causing a build-up of pressure in her head, and also to do a biopsy.
In late 2018 after an MRI scan, Marnie began a course of chemotherapy that lasted 18 months.
Marnie having fun
March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month, which raises money for research to find a cure for brain tumours.
Sally Downie said:
“There had always been something that wasn’t quite right and we had been back and forth to the GP with various things from swollen gums to strange jerky movements, but it always got put down to a virus.
“Marnie had never been a great sleeper, waking every couple of hours and then towards diagnosis, she was waking saying her head hurt and being sick. Finally a CT scan was done and that was when we found out she had a brain tumour.”
Enjoying life
Marnie is now doing well after finishing her treatment in June 2020. She is back at school and enjoys playing sports including football, gymnastics, paddle boarding and swimming.
Ms Downie said:
“Marnie’s last six-monthly MRI scan in January showed all is stable, and the doctor was very pleased with her progress. If all is well at her next scan in July, Marnie will move to yearly scans.
“She’s really happy that, now that her portacath is out, if she gets a temperature she doesn’t have to go to hospital to be checked. She’s doing really well, and is really enjoying being at school. She’s doing lots of activities, including football, gymnastics, paddle boarding and swimming.”
Marnie enjoys paddle boarding.
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Vital support
Marnie and her family have been supported by Candlelights, a Leeds-based charity that works with child cancer patients and their families across Yorkshire.
Candlelighters supported Marnie and her family right from their stay at the hospital, providing them with practical support and entertainment on the wards, wellbeing therapies, trips out and a holiday, as well as financial support.
Ms Downie added:
“There are far too many things to list that Candlelighters have done for us since Marnie’s diagnosis and unless you are being supported by them I don’t think you can ever fully appreciate what they do.
“The support provided by Candlelighters has been amazing for our wellbeing. There’s always a friendly face offering a cup of tea and a chat as well as endless entertainment and support for the children.”
To donate to Candlelighters visit this page.