26 Feb 2026

“Cancer taught me that life is too short to not spend it doing the things that bring us joy.”

A leukaemia diagnosis can profoundly change people’s lives. But after the shock and disruption, some patients report a new positive and more meaningful life chapter unfolding.

Izi’s studio shot

One of them is singer/songwriter Izi. Her unusual symptoms started in February 2021 and escalated rapidly. She was studying Vocals at Uni in Brighton at the time but Covid meant she was living back with her parents in Jersey and doing her work online.

“One weekend I had a lot of severe back pain,” said Izi, 25, who was 20 at the time. “I had had sciatica before so I initially put it down to this. But it kept me up overnight, and around 5am I said to my parents that I thought I needed them to take me to A&E.

“By that time I was struggling to walk. A&E said it sounded like ‘bone pain’. They told me that as I had only taken paracetamol and ibuprofen an hour prior there was nothing they could give me. But it didn’t get better so once my GP opened on Monday I booked an appointment. The GP told me it sounded like sciatica and that she didn’t think I needed a blood test but could if I wanted to. Thankfully I asked if we could go ahead.”

On Tuesday morning Izi’s pain was still getting worse. Her GP phoned to say that the lab found something abnormal in her blood and asked if she could come back that day for more tests.

On Wednesday 3rd March 2021, Izi was told she had B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-Cell ALL).

“It was three weeks before my 21st birthday. It wasn’t until I saw the consultant in the hospital that afternoon and she told me I would have to be an inpatient for a month in Southampton that I actually cried. I think I initially thought I will just go into hospital for my treatment and then go home, I will have my friends and family around me and I will be able to sleep in my own bed. It was all of those things being taken away from me that overwhelmed me and made me feel everything.”

The following Monday Izi and her mum Lou flew over to Southampton Hospital on a commercial flight under Jersey’s healthcare service. They were seated in a separate area, had masks on, and got on and off the plane first.

“Once I was there I began chemotherapy immediately. I was an inpatient for seven weeks and as it was around Covid, I wasn’t allowed any visitors and my mum had to sleep in my hospital room.

“I spent a lot of time sleeping and listening to music. I had bad headaches but luckily no other major side effects. The most important thing at this time was being gentle with myself and listening to what I needed. To accept that if all I could do that day was shower then that was a win.

Izi with sister Livy

“At the end of the first round I was given a two week break back home in Jersey. When I returned to start the next cycle I was told that unfortunately it hadn’t worked so they wanted to change to the immunotherapy drug Blinatumomab. It was given as a continuous drip through a pump in a backpack for 28 days which allowed me to be an outpatient so Mum and I moved into a flat opposite the hospital. Mum was by my side for the whole thing and I couldn’t have done it without her. My dad Gwyn and my sister Livy gave me so much support too and I know it was really heartbreaking for them to be stuck an ocean away for months unable to be there with me.”

Day one of Izi’s transplant

Fortunately this treatment started to work for Izi. She went into remission in July 2021 and doctors said that in order to minimise the chance of a relapse she would need stem cell transplant.

“I had my transplant on 4th September 2021. I was lucky that I wasn’t sick for my previous chemotherapy or immunotherapy but I was really sick with the chemo before my transplant. This was without doubt the hardest time and sometimes I struggled to find the willpower to keep going.

“They found a woman from Germany in her 30s as my donor. It was actually knowing that she was in hospital donating her cells that gave me motivation. We sent anonymous letters to each other at first after my transplant and then after two years we were allowed to contact each other directly. I am hoping to meet her one day – we want to meet in Germany with our families there so that takes quite a bit of organising. But of course every day I am incredibly grateful to her.”

Izi was discharged on 30th September and went to live in a flat nearby with her mum before returning to Jersey. After one more admission to hospital to treat an infection, she was finally allowed home on Christmas Eve.

“They knew how desperate I was to be with my family for Christmas! I’d had lots of Graft Vs Host Disease (GvHD) symptoms to battle with like terrible skin and gut problems, and they’d had to put me on high doses of steroids. But eventually I was allowed home which was very special.

“It was a strange time after that as we were still isolating as a family. My sister would go to work but change and shower as soon as she came home. Mum and I kept ourselves away from everyone. My family coped so well with it. My sister actually shaved her head and raised £4763 for Leukaemia UK in the summer of 2021. She’s been amazing.”

Izi is now in remission but is still dealing with long term side effects.

“I developed hypothyroidism, went into early menopause and had recurrent autoimmune haemolytic anaemia where the immune system mistakenly attacks red blood cells. I also developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) surrounding my transplant and the loss of my friend Zé from cancer. He had his transplant before mine, which cured his cancer. But he developed such bad GvHD around his lungs he didn’t make it. I met him in hospital when he was being treated for this. He was the only person I could really speak to about it all who understood. You don’t understand how bad it is unless you’ve been through it. It often feels like a movie I watched rather than something I experienced. I went to therapy last year with Jersey’s adult mental health service as it was coming up in ways that felt quite damaging, and this really helped.”

Izi is now in her second year Spirit Studios, a music production university in Manchester, studying songwriting, something she says she may not ever have done had she not gone through leukaemia.

Izi’s performance shot

“I have always loved music and singing and stopped myself too often because I was hypercritical of myself. Cancer taught me that life is too short to not spend it doing the things that bring us joy. So, I decided to jump at every opportunity even if it scares me – especially if it scares me! I am now making music that I love and am so proud of. I released my first single on October 3rd 2025 and am working on my second one. I’ve done some gigs in Jersey and had a lot of support from BBC Introducing on the island. My goal this year is to get myself out there a bit more in Manchester.

“The trauma and the grief never go away, but life does get bigger around them. Going into menopause means I can’t have kids. I wasn’t sure that I wanted them before cancer but having that taken away from me made me realise it is definitely something that I want at some point in my life. I couldn’t freeze my eggs as my consultants told me my cancer was too aggressive and the time it would take to go through the process could be the difference in whether or not I would survive. I had to grieve the kids I won’t ever have at such a young age and it brought me a lot of anger and sadness. I worked through this and although it is something that will always feel heavy, I now am happy and excited that I will be able to adopt one day.

“I am learning to be at peace with what’s happened and whilst I still have days where it all feels too much and I need to just cry and mourn the girl I used to be, I love the woman I turned out to be and cancer has a huge role to play in that. I would not be who I am today without everything I have been through.”

Island singer IZI makes music debut after battle with leukaemia – Jersey Evening Post

Instagram: @_onlyizi_

Jersey songwriter who faced leukaemia releases debut music – BBC News