A 23-year-old who miraculously survived a life-threatening diagnosis has spoken out about the hidden symptoms of an illness after believing he was just tired. Nathan Hall was only 15 when he decided to see his GP about fatigue, but instead received the devastating news that he had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Nathan was forced to undergo gruelling treatment in Manchester which ‘wiped him out completely’. He was ‘underweight, tired and primarily bald’ as a young teenager.
A year after being given the all-clear, Nathan faced yet another cancer battle after relapsing. An intense round of surgery later, he miraculously survived cancer a second time - and is now raising awareness of the hidden symptoms everyone should know.
Nathan was first diagnosed in March of 2015, two months after his 15th birthday. “When I began feeling very worn out from walking up my stairs, I went to my GP a few days later. The following night, I was called up and told to go to hospital for further tests. Then, within 48 hours of diagnosis, I was transported down to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, not knowing this is where I would end up spending the next four months battling cancer,” said Nathan.
“By mid-summer 2015, I had battled through four rounds of intense chemotherapy which wiped me out completely – I was underweight, tired and, primarily bald. But finally, I was declared in a state of remission and allowed to return home. The next few months were scary for me, constant worrying if my cancer would return. Knowing the survival rates following relapse only made me overthink – much more than I should have.”
Nearly a whole year had passed, and Nathan and his family were about to go on a week’s holiday in sunny Florida. But around a week before the planned dates for the holiday, the teenager began feeling a little more lethargic than usual and decided to get a blood test done.
“I biked two miles to the hospital, walked into the ward, and asked them to take a blood test. After confirming my history, they took it and I returned home,” explained brave Nathan. “A week later, I was on the train down to the airport, suitcase overhead, earphones in, when I suddenly got a call from the hospital telling me I needed to come back in for more tests. I suspected at that moment the cancer had returned, and so I got off at the next station, returned home, and went back to the hospital.
“The news took a toll on my entire family. Everyone thought I was in the clear, but life always screws you over somehow."
The medical team at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital proposed that Nathan undergo a bone marrow transplant. “After signing a consent form stating that I had understood this treatment could cause future cancers, or even death, I underwent conditioning chemotherapy in preparation for the transplant,” said Nathan.
“During this time, my lungs were affected by a fungal infection and filled with fluid, impairing my breathing, leading me to spend a couple of weeks in intensive care under the influence of a lot of painkillers and drugs. I then had severe, life-changing hallucinations from an allergic reaction to an antibiotic drug used to treat my infection; I believe this experiment subconsciously fascinated me once the ordeal was over, leading me to strive toward understanding exactly how our brains can hallucinate such vivid imaginations, something which, as of now, I am still incredibly fascinated with and hope to begin studying further at university.
“After recovering, I was then ready for transplant. I was moved into a secure ward with specialised air filtration in each room, and its own controlled climate.
"For six months I was fed food which was devoid of any flavour from the intense heat it was subjected to in order to sterilise it. After what seemed like an eternity of keeping myself occupied with building model kits and playing computer games, I was ready.
"On December 23rd, Anthony Nolan delivered my new bone marrow for transplantation and, at the end of the day, I officially had the immune system of a new-born. I was released a few months after recovering and ensuring everything had grafted correctly and without issues.”
Fast forward to 2019, and Nathan was 20-years-old, going back to college and getting his GCSE qualifications. He began a course that ended with him getting a place at the University of York to study Biomedical Sciences, fulfilling his dream of learning more about the human body, disease and advancing treatments.
Nathan said: “I will be forever grateful for my entire family and the support and sacrifices they have made to be there for me during and after treatment. I will be in remission for seven years come December 23rd 2022
“Everyone that surrounded me was very supportive and caring. I got quite self-conscious about my lack of hair, and I was reluctant to go outside without a beanie hat on. This continued up until a year ago when my wonderful girlfriend gave me the courage to be happy with myself and not care what others think.
“I have a completely different outlook on how I view life and people. I used to be quite cynical, only caring about me and my own little bubble, but now I am a lot more aware of the problems that people all over the world go through and how everyone copes in different ways.
“Catching leukaemia in its early stages is the key to finding an effective treatment, hence why the signs and symptoms must be understood and differentiated from similar symptoms which occur in daily life. If it was not for the quick reactions of both my GP, hospital and consultants - Professor Rob Wynn, Dr John Grainger and Dr Denise Bonney - I don’t think my outlook would have been so great, so I owe them my life, literally.”
Research carried out by charity Leukaemia UK showed a ‘non-existent awareness’ of leukaemia symptoms that is ‘extremely worrying’, according to the charity. The new figures showed people in the North West don’t know bleeding, bruising, fatigue and infections are a sign of the blood cancer.
Only one percent of those surveyed in the region were able to identify all four of the most widely reported symptoms - fatigue, bruising, unusual bleeding and repeated infections.
Leukaemia is a form of blood cancer that affects people of all ages, and 28 people receive a leukaemia diagnosis every day in the UK - over 10,000 every year.
Overall survival for leukaemia stands at just over 50 per cent - making it the fifth most common cancer and the third deadliest, killing 5,000 people a year in the UK. Early detection is crucial, says the charity, as the illness is often diagnosed too late.
People who are concerned about any of these symptoms - fatigue, bruising, unusual bleeding and repeated infections - are being strongly urged by the charities to contact their GP and request a blood test. More information is available on the Spot Leukaemia website at www.spotleukaemia.org.uk .
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