29 Jul 2025

Lauren and her sister have been on a remarkable journey together.

Lauren Murrell was 23 when she began experiencing unexplained symptoms – neck pain, fatigue, night sweats. Lauren’s condition quickly deteriorated. After a visit to A&E, she received a call the next morning: she had leukaemia and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) on 1 February 2012.

Treatment started immediately and Lauren had three rounds of chemotherapy which were gruelling and sadly didn’t put her into remission. In July, her care was transferred to University College Hospital in London, where she underwent total body irradiation to prepare for a stem cell transplant. “The radiotherapy machine was awful. You can’t move a muscle for 20 minutes and it’s twice a day for five days,” she recalls.

Lauren in hospital

During this period, Lauren was placed in protective isolation, unable to leave her hospital room or receive visitors, due to being neutropenic and having zero immunity. It was a very intense and very isolating period, set against the backdrop of the London Olympics – where most people were jubilant and celebratory, Lauren was in a haze of morphine to deal with the pain.

In August 2012, Lauren received donor cells from her sister Sarah. She was a perfect match. “There are just under two years between us and we have always been close. It’s unusual to have a sibling match but somehow I just knew her cells would be the ones.”

The aftermath was gruelling. Lauren endured Graft vs Host Disease (GvHD) with gastro-intestinal
tract ulcers, shingles, vomiting, and multiple infections. “I was on 25 pills a day at one point,” she
says. Over time, a lot of patience and a long road to recovery, she began to slowly rebuild body and
mind.

Lauren with her sister Sarah

One lasting side effect was her reactive, sensitive skin. Sarah, who spent years working for L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, had created natural formulations to help. They worked. The stars aligned years later and the sisters considered whether this was their moment to do something with it.

By Sarah skin care started with one soothing and restorative plant-based oil blend, the Hero Facial Oil, that healed Lauren’s skin and which was originally made by Sarah at the kitchen table. It’s now a brand stocked by Ocado, featured in The Times, Vogue, Forbes and on This Morning, and endorsed by UK health and wellbeing leaders including Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella), Liz Earle MBE and Caroline Hirons.

The sisters have been on a remarkable journey together. “My blood type changed after the transplant,” Lauren says. “We’re now as biologically close to being twins as you can be without being born that way.”

Lauren’s mantra? “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favour.” It’s the mindset that saw Lauren through her toughest times, giving her agency and hope for a better tomorrow.