A dad-of-four in his 30s found out his leg pain was an aggressive form of cancer (Image: Joe Till / SWNS)
A dad-of-four who was told his leg pain was sciatica was later diagnosed with an aggressive cancer – and given just months to live.
Joe Till, 33, first went to walk-in centres complaining of pain in his leg but was reassured it was nothing serious. Months later, the keen gym-goer and hiking fan was diagnosed with stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of blood cancer.
The sporty dad, who lives in Lancaster, has since been told there is nothing more the NHS can do – and doctors say he may only have three months to live. He has since launched a fundraiser to support his family and fund possible treatments.
Before the diagnosis, Joe had been a keen gym goer and hiker (Image: Joe Till / SWNS)
Read more: Gardeners’ World star Monty Don, 70, shares ‘brutal truth’ in honest health upda
Read more: Queues form for medicine after horror disease outbreak in the UK
Joe said: « I was getting pains in my leg and was up and down to walk-in centres. They told me it was sciatica but one day I found I couldn’t walk upstairs. It wasn’t like me. I was a big gym goer and used to love hiking up mountains in the Lake District every weekend. »
Joe was eventually diagnosed with cancer in July 2024, and the battle that followed proved devastating.
His spleen burst on the first day of chemotherapy, leaving him needing emergency surgery and a week in intensive care. He then spent four months recovering in Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Joe said: « I then started to get pains in my arms. They did more tests and I was told there was no cancer. They referred me to a neurologist at Preston. After two days, I’d lost all mobility from my shoulders down.
« My arms were like jelly and I had no strength to stand up or walk. At the end of a three-week stay, they said there was a little nodule in my neck which could be cancer. »
Joe returned to chemotherapy in Blackpool and began slowly regaining movement. But just six weeks later, the agonising pains returned.
He said: « I knew straight away it was the same thing. I was in Blackpool for around six weeks and eventually went home to start chemotherapy as an outpatient. Every time I did it, I couldn’t swallow or talk properly. I regularly had to be on a nose feed. »
Joe has had to endure aggressive chemotherapy (Image: Joe Till / SWNS)
Doctors then approved him for CAR-T cell therapy in Manchester, one of the most advanced treatments available. For a time, the situation appeared to improve and Joe began training his legs again at home with help from his wife.
But the hope was short-lived. He later discovered a new lump under his arm – showing the cancer had returned. Joe tried immunotherapy and two rounds of radiotherapy which shrank the tumour slightly.
However, on February 9, he was told there was nothing more the NHS could do.
He said: « They told me I had three months left to live. It flicked a switch in my head as if to say, I’m not letting this beat me. If it defeats me, the cancer must have been strong.
« I’ve got a wife and four kids to support. I’ve been really open with my kids. Over the past two years they’ve been used to receiving bad news. They took it badly to begin with but they’re resilient. They know I’m dying but I’ve got a bit better over the last few weeks.
« How long this is going to last, I don’t know. It would be unfair to give me chemo now with the condition I’m in. It would wipe me out. »
Joe has vowed not to give up his fight and has launched a fundraiser to pay for additional private therapies while trying to secure his family home for his wife and children.
Source link
