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  "path": "/2026/05/15/thought-a-cold-turned-a-deadly-cancer-28382496/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-15T15:48:43.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Health",
    "Lifestyle",
    "Cancer",
    "Scotland",
    "after she began feeling constantly exhausted",
    "Australia",
    "Christmas",
    "summer",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
  ],
  "textContent": "Ayley Crawford’s ‘cold’ turned out to be something far more severe (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\nA student nurse from Scotland who was battling cold symptoms was given a life-changing diagnosis when she was told that she was actually suffering from a deadly form of cancer.\n\nAyley Crawford was 19 when she began her degree at Glasgow Caledonian University, and started suffering from repeated colds and sinus infections.\n\nHowever, things got steadily worse for the teenager from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, after she began feeling constantly exhausted and struggled to keep food down.\n\nShe sought medical help after she fainted during an exam, with her GP suspecting she might be diabetic, but it was only after several tests that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an extremely aggressive type of blood cancer that required urgent treatment.\n\nAyley, now 21, recalls: ‘I had colds and sinus infections I just couldn’t shake. I was feeling tired all the time and sometimes I was so weak I could barely stand.\n\n‘When I fainted during a practical exam at university, I just knew something wasn’t right.’\n\nDoctors thought Ayley had diabetes before the devastating news came (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\nWhen Ayley received the diagnosis of AML, she was terrified. Nearly 80% of those diagnosed with the disease will not survive more than five years.\n\n‘My first thought was “I’m going to die”,’ said Ayley. ‘I knew something was wrong with me, but I never thought it would turn out to be cancer.’\n\nAyley underwent four cycles of chemotherapy, during which she suffered from thinning hair and sickness.\n\n‘It was hard to be away from home, but I was honestly in quite good spirits throughout my treatment, thanks to the staff in the Beatson (hospital),’ she explained.\n\n‘I kept thinking, I just need to get through this and then I’ll be able to get back to my life.’\n\nAyley was told she was in remission in November 2024, and was able to get a part-time job and go on holiday.\n\nAyley had the support of her family and boyfriend while she was in isolation (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\nHowever, her plans to return to university the following year were thrown into disarray when a routine bone marrow biopsy in March 2025 revealed she had relapsed.\n\n‘I was devastated, I felt like everything I went through with my treatment had been for nothing,’ said Ayley. ‘I’d been saying to my family that I was feeling so well, it was a complete shock.’\n\nAfter learning she would need a stem cell transplant, a match was found with an anonymous donor from Australia.\n\nIn July 2025 she was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, calling the procedure ‘the worst thing I’ve ever endured’.\n\n‘I had ulcers in my digestive tract which led to significant weight loss,’ Ayley recalled. ‘I wasn’t allowed out of my room for five weeks, but my mum, boyfriend Riley and my friend Melissa were able to visit. They were my only three visitors allowed.’\n\nAyley has had the support of boyfriend Riley throughout (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\nIt didn’t end there, with Ayley spending three months in isolation at home after the transplant, dealing with side effects from the medications as well as weakness which made even walking from the bedroom to the bathroom a challenge.\n\n‘It was very hard for me dealing with how I looked as a young woman at the time,’ she said. ‘Thankfully I had my family and friends, who supported me greatly.’\n\n‘I slowly started to recover and was able to celebrate Christmas 2025, which was so special.’\n\nAyley is now in remission and is planning to travel this summer before going back to university in 2026.\n\nHowever, she admits the profound effect the diagnosis had on her life.\n\nShe’s now looking to the future (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\n‘I was a 19-year-old finding my feet in the adult world and it was all taken away from me in the blink of an eye,’ she said. ‘I was supposed to be graduating this year, and I’ve missed countless experiences with friends. I feel so behind.\n\n‘But the one good thing to come of it all is that I think it will make me a better nurse. Every ward I was on the nurses wanted me to come and join them once I was qualified. So, I may actually go into oncology.\n\n‘But my main aim right now is to get back to university and to catch up on all my missed time!’\n\nAyley is now considering a career in oncology (Picture: Leukaemia UK / SWNS)\n\nFiona Hazell, chief executive at Leukaemia UK said: ‘Many people aren’t aware of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia until they or someone they know is diagnosed.\n\n‘We are so grateful to Ayley for sharing her story and helping to raise awareness of what to look out for.\n\n‘Early diagnosis saves lives, so we want to make sure more people are aware of the signs and symptoms, and to contact their GP to ask for a Full Blood Count test if they’re experiencing them.\n\n‘Together, we can stop leukaemia from devastating so many lives.’\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "I thought I had a cold but it turned out to be a deadly cancer"
}