A ‘super fit’ father-of-three’s heartburn was in fact a form of cancer that only strikes 800 patients in the UK each year.

Neil Morris, 44, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, had just cycled 100km in November 2023 and ‘didn’t think anything’ of some minor tightness in his neck and chest, putting it down to some indigestion.

However, when the sensation persisted, the HR director eventually sought advice from his GP. 

But a subsequent scan at the hospital revealed ‘gigantic mass on his chest’ alongside a blood clot.

Further tests later revealed the devastating truth that Mr Morris had cancer, specifically a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

This is a cancer in cells in the bone marrow, the soft inner part of bone where new blood cells are made. 

Only 765 patients are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year.

Only a quarter of patients diagnosed with the disease in their 40s, like Mr Morris, are alive five years after their diagnosis.    

Neil Morris, 44, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, had just cycled 100km in November 2023 and ‘didn’t think anything’ of some minor tightness in his neck and chest, putting it down to some indigestion

Mr Morris’s wife, Jenny, recalled how her husband had initially dismissed the symptoms as a minor ailment. 

‘He thought it was heartburn, but I don’t think he’s ever suffered from that before,’ she said.

But she said once the test results came in the family’s world was turned ‘upside down’. 

‘Looking back, I was probably a rabbit in headlights,’ she said. 

Mr Morris immediately started cancer treatment undergoing more than 100 rounds of chemotherapy and eight hours of radiotherapy.

But it was ultimately a stem cell transplant from an anonymous woman in Germany that saved his life.

Stem cell transplants replace faulty cells in patients bone cells with healthy ones.

However, the harvested stem cells have to carry the same genetic marker as the patient to be successful.

But a subsequent scan at the hospital revealed ‘gigantic mass on his chest’ alongside a blood clot with further test revealing the true cause of his symptoms was v a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

It’s for this reason that a patient’s siblings are considered the best odds for a match as the close genetic relatives tend to have the same markers for these cells.

But Mr Morris didn’t have any brothers or sisters, which the fact they found a match in a stranger from Germany extremely lucky. 

The family has never learned the identity of the donor, but Mrs Morris said words couldn’t express how thankful they are. 

‘I suppose the only thing I can do is thank her for giving our children their dad back, for giving him a chance and for giving me my husband back,’ she said. 

‘He has a second chance and the reason why he has that chance is because of her.

The match was found via the charity Anthony Nolan, which hosts a register where people can sign up to see if their stem cells are a match for a patient.

Mrs Morris urged people to consider signing up.

‘Just get on the register, it’s easier than a Covid test – you just need to fill out an online form to request a swab pack,’ she said. 

Mr Morris’s life was ultimately saved by a stem cell transplant from an anonymous woman in Germany

‘I hope so much that I get called to give some cells one day, I would love to have the privilege to do that.’

‘It’s so easy and so simple and, obviously the drugs and treatment have a huge impact, but actually, what really saves the life is another person.’

She has also signed up to participate in this year’s London Marathon to raise money for the charity. People can donate to the fundraiser here. 

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is rare, accounting for less than 1 per cent of cancer diagnoses made in the UK each year.

Cases in adults are even rarer — most patients are under five when diagnosed. 

Potential symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, pale skin, high temperature, becoming easily ill, frequent bruising or bleeding, swelling of the lymph nodes, pain in the bones and joints, a sense of fullness in the stomach and weight loss.

Anyone suffering these symptoms should get them checked by their GP, but experts emphasise they can be caused by a variety of conditions, not just cancer.