Colchester family appeal for stem cell donors after cancer diagnosis

She had just finished her first year studying art and design at Colchester Institute.

But on June 14, her world came crashing down across the space of just a few seconds.

Mum Kathy Ling had taken Emily to the urgent treatment centre at Colchester Hospital after her daughter experienced breathlessness and severe headaches.

After initial suspicions Emily may be suffering from anaemia, the pair were told a haematologist needed to speak with them about her blood tests.

Kathy, a learning support assistant at Queen Boudica Primary School, in Colchester, said: “He introduced himself, he said he’d looked at Emily’s bloods and he’s got some bad news.

“He said it’s acute myeloid leukaemia. My world just came crashing down.”

Kathy said she “will never forget the doctor’s face” as he told her Emily would need to be “blue-lighted” to a specialist hospital immediately.

“Emily didn’t pick up on what he was saying,” said Kathy.

“She knew from the reaction on my face it must be bad.

“She asked what he meant, he said ‘You’ve got blood cancer’.

“The pair of us were now in pieces in A&E, one of the nurses came over and put her arm around us.

“Your whole world just stops. We were told it only affects 140 children per year.”

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Weeks on and Emily is undergoing constant tests at University College Hospital London and has begun a course of chemotherapy.

Kathy has a bed at her daughter’s side and stays there full-time, with Emily expected to need months of treatment.

She will need a bone marrow transplant, with her 21-year-old brother a possible donor.

In many ways, life is on hold for the family, with Emily’s dad Jason making daily trips to the hospital from his home in Leicestershire.

Kathy’s partner Dan, who works with Essex Police, is now a full-time dad to the pair’s five-year-old son.

Emily faces a long road to recovery

“The messages we’ve had are truly amazing,” said Kathy.

“They have come from everywhere, from people we don’t really know who want to say to you ‘We’re thinking of you’ and ask ‘Is there anything you need’.

“I am hoping in four or five weeks I might be able to bring her home for a couple of days.”

Kathy has been told Emily’s cancer is treatable, but the family face a long road no-one ever wishes to tread.

“Sometimes I have to go out for just 30 minutes, just to take a moment,” she said.

“It’s not just Emily, you look at all the teenagers on this ward who are quite obviously poorly and you just want to hug them.

“You look around and you think ‘how can this be happening to these kids?’ “I have to dig deep to try and stay as strong as possible in front of Emily. It really is hard sometimes, hard to dig deep, but I am doing it.

“There might be a couple of times where I think I’m losing it.

“I want to go outside and scream into the sky and say ‘how dare you’.

“You expect to deal with your children getting poorly, or even breaking a leg or something like that – but with something like this in the blink of an eye your whole world changes.”

Jenna Bristow has launched a fundraiser to help Emily and her family through the difficult times ahead.

She said: “We would like to put any funds raised towards sending a care package to her, things that will help during her stay in hospital.

“If there is enough in the pot after this, perhaps a family day out once they are all back together.”

Emily is described as “strong” by her mum, but she is understandably scared of the journey that lies ahead.

“She hasn’t had the best start in life, she was diagnosed with social anxiety in her early teens and deals with that on a daily basis,” said Kathy.

“It was difficult when she started college, it was something new, and so she was already very much on the backfoot coming into this. Most days are difficult.”

Kathy says she was “like a rabbit in a headlights” in the quick-fire aftermath of Emily’s diagnosis.

But like many in her position, she’s now face-to-face with some of the pressing issues facing cancer patients within the NHS.

If Emily’s brother is not a match, she will have to look to the stem cell register for a transplant.

Donors between the ages of 16 and 30 are urgently needed, as research has shown younger donors increase a patient's chance of surviving.

Kathy said: “Younger people probably won’t be thinking about donating blood, never mind donating their bone marrow.

“But you could be giving someone a chance. If you’re a match, you could be a hero to someone like Emily.”

Donors can register and find more information by visiting dkms.org.uk.

To donate to the fundraiser in aid of Emily's family, vist gofundme.com/f/emilysfightagainstAML.