At 13, doctors told me my cancer was incurable. Then I beat it

Alyssa was told her leukaemia was incurable (Picture: GOSH)

‘Please don’t give up on me, I’m not ready to die yet.’

I remember looking my doctor in the eyes and saying this to her. I was 13 and in the throes of my cancer treatment.

In May 2021, I was diagnosed with leukaemia and it was the worst day of my life. I didn’t think it could get worse, and then they told me it was incurable.

It felt as if the world had abandoned all hope. My family, however, had not – and neither had my doctors.

After I said that I didn’t want to die, the doctor looked back at me and replied: ‘If you want to keep going, we will keep looking. We won’t give up on you.’

And I stand here today, because of a new treatment plan that cured my leukaemia.

The first symptom I remember was tiredness. It was March 2021, when I went back to school after the second Covid-19 lockdown.

Things like walking to and from school took immense effort and some days I had to call my dad to pick me up. I would go to bed straight after our evening meal and it seemed like I could never get enough sleep.

She was a generally healthy child before this (Picture: Alyssa)

This went on for two months. Then I came down with what we thought was a cold, but I couldn’t shake it. 

Before this, I was a generally healthy child and would normally get over things quickly. 

The GP prescribed antibiotics, but with no success, and I ended up at A&E a few days later. That’s when medical staff told me I had a bug and sent me home with more antibiotics.

During this time, I was so fed up with feeling poorly, and couldn’t believe a bug was making me feel so unwell.

I wasn’t getting any better, and my family was getting concerned. So we went back to the doctors a couple of weeks later and I was eventually given a blood test.

The next morning, the GP called and told us to go to A&E right away. At this point, we weren’t really that worried.

They ran various tests, including taking my oxygen levels and heart rate.

Alyssa had a bone marrow transplant, when chemo didn’t work (Picture: GOSH)

When I came out of the treatment room, I saw my name on the emergency board – it’s one of my most vivid memories.

It was the only name there. The shock hit me, and I found it hard to breathe.

The results came back saying I had pneumonia in both of my lungs.

I was rushed to intensive care, but they couldn’t understand why a healthy 12-year-old girl had pneumonia in the middle of summer. They had also tested me for other things like glandular fever, but tests came back negative.

After running a variety of blood tests and ultrasounds, my bone marrow was tested too. Eventually it was confirmed that I had cancer. T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, to be precise – which is an aggressive form of blood cancer.

At first, the treatment plan followed the standard regime. But after a month, I moved to more intensive chemo, followed by a bone marrow transplant when chemo failed to work. 

But this, like all the treatments before, failed. I had run out of options. 

Sign up to the Metro.co.uk Lifeline challenge

This year Metro.co.uk is proudly supporting Young Lives vs Cancer for our 2024 Lifeline campaign.

To help raise vital funds for the charity we are calling on our readers to join us on on 18 May for an an epic hike along the beautiful Jurassic Coast.

You can choose to do 25km or 58km and registration starts at just £15 with a fundraising minimum of £240 (25km) / £360 (58km). Alternatively, you can pay for your place and set your own fundraising target.

Whether you want to do it as a group or are signing up solo, as part of Team Lifeline, you’ll receive tons of support and advice, so that every step you take can make a massive difference to the lives of young cancer patients.

To sign up and find out more, click here.

All her options had run out (Picture: Alyssa)

The only thing left was palliative care – a specialised medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain – which would keep me alive for only a few weeks or months. 

We were all devastated and couldn’t believe how quickly we had got to this point. Our options had run out and it felt like everything I had gone through had been for nothing.

Then in March 2022, my doctor at Sheffield found a new clinical trial at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and noticed I was eligible. It was like the stars had aligned. This trial seemed to completely come out of the blue.

For the first time, researchers had found a way to use a new gene editing technology called base editing to modify immune cells. The edited cells would then be given to me to find and target my cancerous cells. 

I was the first person in the world to benefit from this ground-breaking treatment.

Alyssa in the front centre, with her doctors and nurses (Picture: GOSH)

It was amazing, and I was really hopeful, but also scared. I knew that there were no guarantees and this was a trial, so no one knew for definite what would happen to me and the side effects.

But I told my consultant that if this didn’t cure me, at least it might help them to cure other people. That was really important to me – it was my way of making a difference.

Metro.co.uk Lifeline 2024

When a family is told their child has cancer, it can feel like their whole world has fallen apart, in an instant. 

Young Lives vs Cancer is there to support children and young people with cancer and their families from the moment the doctor says ‘it’s cancer’ to help with whatever they might need.

From a financial grant to make sure the house is warm, a place to sleep in a Home from Home near the hospital or a social worker speaking to an employer to explain why a parent needs time off work. Young Lives vs Cancer is there to help with whatever cancer throws their way.

To support the Metro’s Lifeline Campaign with Young Lives vs Cancer, you can sign up here.

If you would like to simply donate to the charity, just click on our JustGiving page here.

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I was referred to GOSH and underwent more chemo and radiotherapy to prepare my body for the engineered cells to work their magic. For some parts of the trial, I was very ill and would sleep for multiple days; the cells also killed off all my healthy white blood cells, leaving me with no bone marrow. 

But the support system at GOSH was amazing, and I couldn’t have asked for more. I even made a friend while in hospital, who was around the same age as me. 

Alyssa was cured in 2022 (Picture: Alyssa)

Remarkably, in 2022 I was cured of what was thought to be incurable leukaemia. It was a spark of hope for me and many other families around the world. 

When I was told that my leukaemia had gone, it was the best day of my life. I couldn’t stop crying happy tears. We had a big celebration and all the nurses came to celebrate too!

I’m so happy to be here now and am trying to raise as much awareness for childhood cancer, blood cancer and GOSH. 

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) is currently raising money to help build a new Children’s Cancer Centre, which will help transform children’s cancer care and mean more children like me can access breakthrough treatments.

Alyssa in the middle, surrounded by her family (Picture: GOSH)

Everyone deserves to have the hope and opportunity that I had. Everyone deserves to survive cancer. 

I am now happy to be back at school and preparing for my GCSEs. I love hanging out with my friends and being able to play with my brother Liam and my dog Holly. 

I’m also delighted to share that in April this year, on my two-year GOSH anniversary, I was awarded Young Person of Courage and Young Person of the Year at the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire awards.

If there’s one thing to learn from my journey it’s to not give up hope. I know many people are not as lucky as me and I am so grateful to be able to have this chance. 

Without my specialists, doctors, nurses and even cleaners that I befriended in hospital, none of my journey would have been possible.  

And for the people who can support those in need – whether it’s through a charity or taking the time to talk to a friend, family member or even a stranger – everyone has the power to help someone through the toughest time of their life. 

Everyone has the power to make a difference. 

To find out more about GOSH Charity’s Build it. Beat it. appeal to help build a new Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH visit 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]. 

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Alyssa Great Ormond Hospital Picture Please After March Covid Things Before During Eventually Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Metro Lifeline Young Lives Cancer Jurassic Coast Alternatively Whether Sheffield Street Campaign JustGiving METROFIVE METROTEN METROTWENTY Floor Whitefriars Lewins Bristol Remarkably Children Charity Centre Everyone GCSEs Holly April Person Courage Lieutenant Leicestershire Without Build Share

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