Amelie Coelho Flatt, a 12-year-old from, Bedfordshire, UK, has spent 10years of her life battling leukaemia. Diagnosed at just three years old, she’s faced the relentless challenge of blood cancer not once, not twice, but four times. Her journey has been long, with numerous relapses, treatments, and hospital stays. But now, having undergone a stem cell transplant in April 2024, Amelie is looking forward to a “fresh start”.
Her story began in July 2015 aged three years old when she began to feel very sick. Doctors initially thought it might be a virus or a urine infection, but after her condition rapidly deteriorated, she was transferred to intensive care. It was there, she was diagnosed with leukaemia. “No one wants to hear your child has cancer, but she was literally fading away in front of us, so there was some relief when they finally diagnosed her and they were going to fix her,” said her mother, Sofia Coelho Flatt.
Amelie underwent chemotherapy from 2015 to 2017, going into remission before relapsing at the age of eight in 2021. After another 18 months of chemotherapy, Amelie was once again cancer-free, until August 2023, when she relapsed for a third time. This relapse hit harder “The relapse came as a real shock to us all. She obviously understood so much more than she did when she was just three.” Amelie fought hard and won, but the battle wasn’t over. Just four months after completing treatment, leukaemia returned for the forth time in August 2023.
This time, Amelie was treated with CAR T-cell therapy. When that failed, her last option was a bone marrow transplant, which she had in April 2024. This treatment brought new challenges, as Amelie spent four months in hospital isolation. For those four months, she was isolated away from everybody except her mum and her dad. The isolation was incredibly difficult for Amelie, but despite it all, she remained hopeful.
After so much hardship, Amelie is also looking forward to a return to normal life and sharing her journey with others by posting vlogs on TikTok. “I’m hoping to post vlogs on TikTok about my experience as I’ve never seen anyone on social media that is in my position that talks about it.”
One of the most important lessons from Amelie’s journey has been the critical need for stem cell donors. “There’s a 34-year-old German man who selflessly gave his cells to save Amelie’s life,” said Sofia.
Amelie’s story highlights the urgent need for further research and improved access to clinical trials so that children like her don’t have to endure multiple relapses. The ATICUS Network is working to transform clinical trial accessibility by uniting the UK’s top paediatric clinicians and research nurses. Their mission is to advance innovative, life-changing clinical trials that improve outcomes for children undergoing stem cell transplants. “Amelie has one dream—and that is to beat cancer. I have one dream—and that is for Amelie to have a chance at life,” said Sofia.
Chief Executive James McLaughlin is lacing up his trainers once more for one final run, taking on his toughest test yet—running over 10 marathons in 14 days for a total of 270 miles with no rest days, running through 29 blood cancer centres across the UK where the charity supports through clinical trials networks
George Lineker, entrepreneur and long-time supporter of Cure Leukaemia, will once again take on the epic London 2 Paris cycling challenge this June, marking a decade since he first completed the ride in 2015, raising vital funds for Cure Leukaemia.
