Andrew Williams, 50, thought he’d caught flu after he began feeling a little run down – but was soon diagnosed with a fast developing and aggressive form of cancer
A dad who thought he just had the flu was stunned to be diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer – and is now due to undergo medical treatment after an “incredible” discovery.
Andrew Williams, 50, from Higher Bebington, began feeling run down early last year and was prescribed antibiotics for what doctors believed might be pneumonia. “I felt absolutely fine,” he recalled, but in February 2024, while supporting his 17-year-old son Nathan at a motorsport championship in Lincolnshire, Andrew was hit with severe chest pains and rushed to A&E. It was then that he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) – a fast developing blood cancer that requires urgent treatment.
Symptoms of AML can be vague – including breathlessness, fatigue and trouble shaking off colds – and are often mistaken for minor illnesses, Liverpool Echo reports. According to Cancer Research UK, treatment must start swiftly because of how quickly the cancer can progress. It comes after the NHS warned of a mouth symptom that could be a life-shortening disease.
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Andrew underwent immediate treatment and was given the all-clear in October 2024. For the next nine months, things were looking up. He was back at home, spending time with family, and cautiously optimistic. “It was always at the back of my mind,” he admitted. “You start getting a sniffle and think, I hope it’s not returning. But I was fully aware that the longer you go on, the less chance there is of a relapse.”
But on April 20 this year, after a routine test at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Andrew was dealt another blow. The leukaemia had returned, despite him showing no symptoms. In a surprising turn, doctors made what Andrew has described as an “incredible” discovery that’s opened the door to further treatment. While the details haven’t yet been made public, the news has offered a glimmer of hope at a critical time.
Andrew was placed on the stem cell register with the support of blood cancer charity DKMS. Having a transplant means destroying as many leukaemia cells as possible and replacing these with healthy stem cells. But only a third of patients will find a stem cell donor within their family and none of the Williamses are a match, so Andy was left hoping for a stranger who was among the 43 million on the register to give him a second chance.
He said: “When you hear that there’s 40 million people on the register, you think, I’m pretty normal, there must be hundreds of donors but there wasn’t.” At the end of May, a match was luckily found for Andrew.
“Out of 40 million people worldwide, there is one match for me and it’s a 48 year-old lady living in Germany. It’s incredible really. I’ve had one round of chemotherapy and have been given the all clear. I’m in the process of another round of it, but without the stem cell transplant there’s a 90% chance that it would return.”
Andrew, who is scheduled to have the transplant next month, is calling on others to register as stem cell donors. He said: “It’s quite heartbreaking to see people who don’t have a donor match. It really pulls at the heart strings. It’s so fortunate that DKMS has found a match for me.”
On August 10, the family will also be working with DKMS to hold a stem cell donor drive event at Convoy in the Park, in Donington Park, Derby. Nathan will be racing in the next stage of the OT Coupe series, and DKMS will be taking cheek swabs to add people to the stem cell donor register – including Nathan himself, as he is now old enough to sign up.
Andrew, who is currently in hospital for a second round of chemotherapy, said: “Hopefully I’ll be able to go home for a few weeks soon.”
