The family of a 'super fit and healthy' man have shared how he was diagnosed with cancer months after chalking his pain off as being a gym-related injury.
Alex Able was just 28 years old when he started to experience trouble with his shoulder back in September 2023, but dismissed it as simply being a pulled muscle from overdoing it at the gym and so visited the physio.
However, two months passed and the Brit, who lives in Chatham - a town roughly an hour drive from London - knew something worse was at play and booked himself in for an MRI scan but it came back clear.
It wasn't until May 2024 that he discovered what was going on with his body - something that only came about after the intervention of his mom who phoned his local GP to insist that they book him in for another scan.
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This time, a large rhabdoid tumor - an extremely rare and aggressive cancer with only 11 cases having ever been diagnosed in adults in Europe, and the first to have received the devastating diagnosis in the UK - was found on his shoulder close to his spinal cord.
He was subsequently sent to Kings Hospital London to undergo surgery to remove the mass, and while it was successful still 10 percent of it remains due to how close it was to his spine.
Now, two years down the line, Alex has recently celebrated his 30th birthday but also discovered that funding for his cancer treatment has been withdrawn from the NHS - the UK's National Health Service paid for by the taxpayer - and so a GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise enough money to pay for the procedure.
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Alex's mother-in-law Katie, who set up the page for him, explained how due to their being so few cases there is 'little to no information available', while also detailing that on July 11 doctors gave him the heartbreaking news that they believe the cancer is uncontrollable.
"To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement, its every parents worst nightmare. Alex is angry, frustrated and scared; the kids feel cheated out of their future together, all their hopes and dreams left hanging in the balance," Katie wrote.
"We refuse to give up! Macmillan have encouraged us to seek alternative treatment routes outside of the NHS, his physiotherapists have advised that the paralysis would be reversed if the pressure on his spine was reduced, we have to fight.
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"A top Neurologist in Birmingham is looking at Alex's case file and scans privately but treatment would need to funded."
She continued: "We have options to seek ground-breaking treatment in Mexico or Germany but Alex will need some intervention immediately to be able to travel - this will need to be self funded too. Our window for action is small, we may only have weeks to initiate treatment.
"We need help. If you can afford to give we would be eternally grateful, if you can't, we understand times are tough... so simply sharing Alex's story is hugely appreciated. The more people and experts this reaches, the better chance he has."
Joe Yates