University student, 20, is given weeks to live after going to A&E with lower back pain and thinking he had just pulled a muscle

• University student Dylan Lamb, 20, first noticed the pain back in April 2022  

A 20-year-old university student has been given just weeks to live after turning up at A&E with lower back pain, thinking he had just pulled a muscle.

Dylan Lamb, who studies international business at the University of Liverpool, first noticed the pain in April 2022 before getting painkillers from his GP near his family home in Staffordshire.

But weeks later he rushed to A&E with his mother Kim after the pain became ‘unbearable’. It was there a blood test confirmed his white blood cell count was ‘through the roof’ and he was admitted to hospital for further tests.

Mr Lamb was quickly diagnosed with Precursor T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and was having chemotherapy three days later, his girlfriend of three years Phoebe Cole, 20, said.

She added: ‘He had this lower back pain that could have been multiple different things, he thought he had pulled a muscle. We were coming home for Easter, and it got progressively worse, he lost his appetite and was being sick.

University student Dylan Lamb has been given just weeks to live after turning up at A&E with lower back pain, thinking he had just pulled a muscle

After arriving at A&E Mr Lamb was quickly diagnosed with Precursor T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and was having chemotherapy three days later

‘His mum took him to A&E in unbearable pain and a blood test showed his white blood cells were through the roof. It all happened so fast, he was diagnosed with Leukaemia and then three days later he was having chemotherapy.’

The student was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital where they have a specialist Haematology Team and a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit where he was given more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

He also endured bone marrow biopsies, high dosage steroids and intrathecal injections. Mr Lamb also made the decision to have his sperm frozen in case he became infertile following chemotherapy and shaved his hair off.

His Auntie, Kelly Payne, described how the effect of Dynan’s treatment was ‘devastating’.

In the description of a GoFundMe page for Dylan, she said: ‘Dylan is a kind, funny, genuine, nice, caring young man, loving life. Heart-broken does not even begin to explain how the whole family felt.

‘The effect this treatment had on Dylan’s body and mental health was devastating. His face swollen and puffy due to high doses of steroids, his stomach extremely swollen due to his internal organs swelling making it impossible for him to sleep and effects on his mental health which left him not wanting to see his loved ones.’

Following a change in chemotherapy Dylan was told he was in remission on July 5, 2022. A donor was found and Dylan underwent a stem cell transplant on September 22 and 23 before being discharged on October 6.

It wasn’t long until Dylan started feeling ‘normal again’ and he returned to university. But in June 2023 Dylan started feeling pain in his lower back once again.

The student was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital where they have a specialist Haematology Team and a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit where he was given more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant

Dylan’s only option for life-saving treatment is a clinical trial in America which would involve CAR T Therapy and Base Editing where the DNA of T cells are taken from the donor and re-engineered

Miss Cole said: ‘Literally two weeks ago the lower back pain came back and he said he knows this pain and it felt familiar. He went back to his doctors at Nottingham City Hospital and asked them to check him over.

‘A blood test showed nothing, and he went home. He admitted himself into hospital as he wanted an MRI, it showed nothing, and he had another blood test on June 29 which showed his blood cells were inclined.

‘He was told the Leukaemia has come back and he has weeks or months left to live. It was a massive shock to the system, especially as we had been told he was fine, not fine and fine again.

‘His family are amazing and are supporting him. He is keeping his sense of humour and is being really up beat, but I know deep down he must be scared.’

Dylan’s only option for life-saving treatment is a clinical trial in America which would involve CAR T Therapy and Base Editing where the DNA of T cells are taken from the donor and re-engineered, so they attack only the Leukaemia and not each other. This would then be followed by a further stem cell transplant.

The treatment could cost more than £500,000 and Dylan’s family have created a GoFundMe page to try and raise enough money to fly over to America and get the treatment. The page has already raised almost £17,000 in three days.

Miss Cole added: ‘It will be life changing for him and for the rest of us [to get treatment in America]. The support so far has been insane, the most amazing thing to see is the amount of people who don’t know him who are donating.

‘It means so much to us all.’

MailOnline has contacted Nottingham University Hospital Trust.

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