Teen who went to dentist with toothache given just 3 weeks left to live after shock diagnosis
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
A routine visit to the dentist led to a life-saving diagnosis for a teenager who had gone believing he just had a toothache.
Ethan Harrison, 19, had been experiencing pain in his top and bottom right wisdom teeth back in May 2026, and booked an appointment at the dentist to have them looked at.
At first Ethan, who works a forklift driver, had thought it might be infection, and reasoned he would probably need the wisdom teeth removing, which is unpleasant but not uncommon.
But when he went in for his appointment the dentist spotted something which saw Ethan immediately referred over to his GP for a follow up appointment.
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The dentist noticed that Ethan had a swollen lymph node, and after seeing his GP he was given a blood test which confirmed a shocking diagnosis, leading to him being rushed to the Chesterfield Royal Hospital to immediately start treatment.
Ethan, from South Wingfield in the UK, was given the shocking news that he had acute myeloid leukaemia, a type of cancer which affects the bone marrow and the blood.
Doctors later said that if he hadn't received treatment four days after the dentist appointment, Ethan could have had as little as three weeks to live.
Now, Ethan is recovering from the emergency treatment in hospital, where he's been since May 17.
Ethan's mum Roxy Bond, 37, said that they feel 'incredibly lucky' that the cancer was spotted.
"When the diagnosis came it was very surreal and just very, very unexpected," she said. “The team at the hospital said if he hadn’t come in he would have only had a few weeks to live."
She added: "It felt like a story you’d hear about someone else, not your son.”
Roxy described how her son had a toothache for around a month prior to the appointment, as well as some other symptoms including shortness of breath, a fever, and a swollen lymph node which had started after he travelled to Cyprus on holiday.
"We just put it all down to the tooth thinking it might be infected," said Roxy, "but then the dentist saw the swollen lymph node and said he needed to be looked at by a doctor.
“We went to the GP, they did a blood test and the results came back 12 hours later. They said his levels were all over the place and we were told we needed to get to A&E immediately.
“We were rushed through at the hospital because the doctors and nurses already knew it was probably leukaemia."
Roxy explained that Ethan is expected to have four rounds of chemotherapy after starting his first one, and is expected to be in hospital for about a month.
"It could be about a year before Ethan returns to full health, depending on how his body reacts and he’ll be in the hospital more than he’s home during that time," she said.
Roxy added: “He’s never been in a hospital before and now he’s having bone marrow biopsies, PICC lines inserted and constant blood tests.
"He’s reacted so far with a sense of humour, nothing’s phased him. All he’ll say is, ‘What an inconvenience'.
"We’re a very positive family and he’s been brilliant. I’m so proud of how he’s handling it.”