Maddie was 21 years old and studying for her teaching degree at university when she first began to feel unusually tired and noticed bruising on her body. Initially, she was prescribed antibiotics for blisters and bruising on her feet, but as the blisters failed to heal and the bruising became more pronounced, she returned to her GP. Urgent blood tests were recommended.

That same evening, Maddie received a call advising her to go to A&E in Reading. At this point, she still didn’t fully understand the seriousness of her condition. She spent the night in the Acute Medical Unit and, at 6am the next morning, was told she had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), with 80% blast cells in her blood.

Later that day, Maddie underwent a bone marrow biopsy and immediately began chemotherapy. After several intensive rounds of treatment, she received a stem cell transplant from a donor. Unfortunately, she developed sepsis shortly afterwards and struggled to tolerate the transplant initially.

Following recovery, Maddie entered remission for 13 months. During this time, she worked hard to regain some normality and managed to complete her degree. However, in early 2024, she relapsed. She began experiencing pain in her legs, breathlessness and general aches. Blood tests confirmed a second diagnosis, this time with 60% blasts.

She began another four rounds of chemotherapy, with the hope that she would be eligible for a second transplant. Because it had been over a year since her first transplant, doctors believed this was a possibility. Maddie had previously taken part in a clinical trial known as the Adamas trial, which aimed to prolong remission. It’s possible that this trial helped delay her relapse, making the second transplant an option. Without that trial, she may have relapsed sooner and missed the window for another transplant.

However, her condition worsened. Following further chemotherapy, her leukaemia progressed rapidly, and she developed pneumonia. Doctors told her she likely had just two weeks to live.

“I had accepted that May would be my last birthday,” Maddie recalls, “and that I would be planning my funeral at the age of 24.”

But after four days, something changed. Her body began to respond, and she started to recover from the pneumonia. On 16th July 2024, just a month later, Maddie underwent her second bone marrow transplant.

When asked about her thoughts on clinical trials, Maddie said:

“Had I not been on a clinical trial, I might not be here. We’ll never know for certain, but I believe it gave me time I wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

She added: “I think clinical trials are often only considered when everything else has failed, but maybe if they were introduced earlier in treatment, they could help avoid complications later on.”

One challenge Maddie faced was the travel required for the trial. Living some distance from Oxford, she found the repeated journeys difficult. However, she praised the team there: “The hospital in Oxford is incredibly advanced, and my research nurse was amazing. She was always at the other end of the phone to answer any questions I or my family had.”

Maddie’s journey highlights not only the importance of cutting-edge treatment and specialist care, but also the vital role that clinical trials play in offering patients hope and more time.