A former triathlete whose terminal cancer was initially mistaken for long Covid has been given months to live.
Olivia Knowles, from Blackpool, noticed something “wasn’t quite correct” in August 2023 while competing in the Half Ironman World Championship in Lahti, Finland.
The two-mile swim and 56-mile cycle went smoothly but she added she “just wasn’t able to push as hard as [she] normally would” during the 13-mile (20-km) run to the finish line.
The 33-year-old went to a private doctor in November 2023 and was told it was “very likely to be long Covid”, before extreme toothache days later prompted an emergency hospital visit and a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
She said after a series of relapses and months of treatment over the course of last year, she had received a stem cell transplant in December and had been declared cancer-free.
However, just a week later, in early March this year, Ms Knowles was given the “bitter” news the leukaemia had returned.
The hair salon owner, whose “typical weekend” before her diagnosis involved 100-mile bike rides and 15-mile runs, walked 20 miles around Fairhaven Lake on 16 March to raise funds for clinical research at King’s College Hospital.
She said she hoped any donations would improve research on AML, a particularly aggressive cancer which, she said, had not seen any “solid advancements” in treatment for 50 years.
“I always thought that relapse would be a real possibility, but obviously, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon,” she said.
“All I really miss now is going to work and training. That’s all I want – just my normal day and my normal routine.
“It might sound odd to some people, but I would just love to take the dog for a run and go to work, more than anything.”
With AML, she explained: “Even if there’s a speck of it left, it just regrows.
“And what regrows is basically the resistant cells, the ones that have evaded and resisted the previous chemo.”
Ms Knowles’ consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital had given her three options – try to get a transplant despite her relapse, join a clinical trial or “do nothing”.
In November, after various unsuccessful trials, Olivia was given a novel Car-T treatment – immunotherapy which genetically modifies a patient’s T-cells to attack cancer.
The treatment at King’s College Hospital in London was followed by the stem cell transplant.
“The initial bone marrow findings were excellent,” she said.
“There were no signs of disease. It was a really positive result at first.”
Last month, she was readmitted with gut issues, a common side effect of stem cell transplants, but blood tests “showed active disease”.
Ms Knowles said her consultant had been “blindsided” by her relapse, because the transplant had gone so well.
While home with her mum Susan and dad Stephen, she decided “on a little bit of a whim” to walk a marathon around Fairhaven Lake to raise funds for the clinical research team at King’s.
The former triathlete was forced to stop after 20 miles but still raised more than £25,000.
She hopes the money will contribute to “solid advancements”, saying the team at King’s were “on the cusp of something excellent with their development of Car-T treatment for AML”.
“For them to have something that can help treat children, it gives you a bit more hope,” she said.
