29 Jul 2025

Ryan celebrated his transplant anniversary at his first ever festival

Ryan at a festival one year after treatment

A leukaemia diagnosis at any age is devastating, but for Ryan Joseph it came out of nowhere just as he was finding his way in the world. Having spent time in care, Ryan, who was 20 at the time and has autism, was living back at home with his mum. Passionate about playing his guitar and Nu Metal and rock music, he had just started studying an Open University degree course in Planetary Science.

“In September 2023 I started to feel breathless and found it difficult to walk,” said Ryan, who lives in Milton Keynes. “I was having repeated infections, night sweats, I had a lump on my neck and nausea and my skin went pale yellow. I went to the GP at the end of October was told it was probably a vitamin D deficiency and I could go to the walk-in centre and ask for a blood test. But it was over the other side of Milton Keynes and I didn’t think anything was seriously wrong with me so I didn’t go.

“Two weeks later the symptoms were getting worse so I went to A&E at Milton Keynes University Hospital. I ended up waiting for seven hours because they confused me with someone else with a similar name. They did a blood test and kept me in overnight, then moved me to a general ward. A nurse came to tell me, and I don’t think it was right how she came out straight with it, that I was moving to ward 25. I Googled it and it was the cancer ward.”

Ryan during treatment

Ryan’s blood test came back with a haemoglobin level of 32 g/L (it should have been 130–170 g/L). He was given further blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy and on 15th November 2023 was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

“I was told that I was going to need chemo and a stem cell transplant and the prospect of dying in that situation was absolutely terrifying to me. I felt like up to that point I’d taken my life for granted.

“I then endured three high dose cycles of chemo in hospital with the first one starting immediately after diagnosis. That first round was the worst with all the side effects. At the same time they looked for a stem cell donor and they tested my brother Noah who was training to go into the Army. I was told it was unlikely a sibling would be a match but it turned out he was 12/12. I was staying with my Nan between rounds of chemo at this time, and my Mum rang me and I remember celebrating because I was so lucky. It was a huge relief. I was always close to Noah but we’re even closer now.”

Ryan was admitted to the Churchill Hospital in Oxford and began intensive chemotherapy ahead of his transplant.

“This chemotherapy was very tough because of the side effects. I lost my hair and I got mucositis which inflamed my whole digestive system. I had stomach ulcers and mad pain, and it also affected my thyroid gland. I was having dreams involving me not ever having the leukaemia and I felt like I was waking up in a real-life nightmare.”

Ryan’s transplant took place on 6th June 2023 and he made such a good recovery he was discharged less than three weeks later.

“I was in the hospital only 19 days after transplant – I’m told the record at the Churchill is 12 but I don’t ever want to go back in there again to try and beat that!”

Ryan in hospital

During his recovery, Ryan was given supported housing with social workers assessing his ability to live independently for six months. At the same time he was dealing with the after-effects of his treatment and regaining his strength, with itchy skin and breathing difficulties and extreme tiredness.

“They encouraged me to go out for my mental wellbeing but to be careful not to go to very crowded places. I saw friends and family, and one night went to a nightclub which I shouldn’t have done! I also broke up with my girlfriend during that period, so my Nan came from Wales to pick me up so I could stay with her for a while and get over it.”

Happily Ryan’s social workers decided after six months of monitoring he could live on his own unsupported. A year after his transplant he moved into his own flat in social housing. He also celebrated his anniversary by going to his first ever festival.

Ryan at the Download festival a year after treatment

“I went to the Download festival on Friday 13th June till Sunday 15th to celebrate a year since my transplant and being able to go back into crowded places as I wasn’t immunosuppressed anymore. It was incredible. I saw Weezer, Green Day and Korn, I was totally star struck! I play the guitar and go and see a lot of bands locally with friends, but this was something else.”

Ryan’s leukaemia continues to be in remission and he is MRD negative with 100% donor chimerism from his brother’s stem cells. He has mild chronic Graft verses Host Disease (GvHD) which affects his lungs and skin, but which he manages with inhalers and creams. His journey through blood cancer treatment has also sparked a detailed interest in science.

“Someone said to me I’m an expert through experience and that’s true. I’ve learnt about all the leukaemia mutations, and all the treatments. It’s just interesting to think what medical science can do – people distrust it but I’m the proof that it works. I have been inspired by a YouTuber called Ed Pratt who kayaked the Thames for charity and I’d like to do a similar fundraiser for Leukaemia UK, Blood Cancer UK, and Leukaemia Care.

“Of course I wish this had never happened to me. I am on edge fairly often when I get ill because I fear it is a relapse. But I kept a positive attitude and a sense of humour throughout the entire course of treatment. I go by the motto ‘No Battle, No Victory’. Soon I want to start a business customising leather and denim sleeveless ‘battle jackets’. I’d also love to be a guitarist, or a scientist that contributes to research to ‘wipe leukaemia off the face of the earth’. I just hope this disease never causes me any grief again.”