A college student, 20, is given weeks to live after going to A&E with lower back pain

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College student Dylan Lamb, 20, first noticed the pain in April 2022

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

Dylan Lamb, who is studying 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 was rushed to A&E with his mom, Kim, after the pain became “unbearable.” There was a blood test that confirmed his white blood cell count was “through the roof” and he was taken to hospital for further testing.

Mr. Lamb was quickly diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and underwent chemotherapy after three days, according to his girlfriend of three years, 20-year-old Phoebe Cole.

She added, ‘He had lower back pain that could have been a few different things, and he thought he pulled a muscle. We were coming home for Easter, and it gradually got worse, he had lost his appetite and was ill.

College student Dylan Lamb only had weeks to live after arriving 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 T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and had been receiving chemotherapy for a year. three days later

His mother took him to A&E in unbearable pain and a blood test showed white blood cells were going through the roof. It all happened so quickly, he was diagnosed with leukemia and three days later he was receiving chemotherapy.

The student was taken to Nottingham City Hospital where they have a specialist hematology team and an adolescent cancer trust unit where he was given further chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Bone marrow biopsies, high doses of steroids and intrathecal injections are also tolerated. Mr Lamb also made the decision to freeze his sperm in case he became infertile after chemotherapy and shaved off his hair.

His aunt, Kelly Payne, described how “devastating” the effect of Dinan’s treatment had been.

Describing Dylan’s GoFundMe page, she said, “Dylan is such a sweet, funny, genuine, kind, caring, loving guy. A broken heart doesn’t even begin to explain what the whole family felt like.”

The effect of this treatment on Dylan’s body and mental health was devastating. His face was swollen and swollen due to the high doses of steroids, and his stomach was swollen severely due to the swelling of his internal organs, which made it impossible for him to sleep and affected his mental health, which made him not want to see his loved ones.

After changing chemotherapy, Dylan is told he is in remission on July 5, 2022. A donor has been found and Dylan underwent a stem cell transplant on September 22 and 23 before being discharged on October 6.

Before long, Dylan begins to feel “normal again” and returns to university. But in June 2023, Dylan starts having pain in his lower back again.

The student is taken to Nottingham City Hospital where they have a dedicated hematology team and an adolescent cancer trust unit where he is given further chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Dylan’s only lifesaving treatment option is a clinical trial in America involving CAR T. DNA taken from a donor’s T cells and re-engineered

Miss Cole said: “A couple of weeks ago the lower back pain returned, and he said he knew that pain and it felt familiar. He went back to his doctors at Nottingham City Hospital and asked them to check him out.

The blood test showed nothing, and he went home. He admitted himself to the hospital because he wanted an MRI, and it didn’t show anything, and he had another blood test on June 29 that showed his blood cells were slanted.

He was told that the leukemia had returned and that he had weeks or months to live. It was quite a shock to the system, especially since we were told he was fine, and never quite again.

His family is amazing and supportive. He keeps his sense of humor and really shines, but deep down I know he must be scared.

Dylan’s only life-saving treatment option is a clinical trial in America that involves a CAR T treatment and base editing in which the DNA of T cells is taken from a donor and re-engineered, so that they attack only leukemias and not each other. This is then followed by another stem cell transplant.

Treatment can cost more than £500,000 and Dylan’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise enough money to travel to America and get treatment. The page has already raised nearly £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, and the most amazing thing is the number of people who don’t know it who donate.

“It means a lot to all of us.”

MailOnline has contacted the Nottingham University Hospital Trust.

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