Hair salon boss Olivia Knowles has been given just months to live after an emergency trip to the hospital with toothache led to a devastating diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
A woman who went to hospital with toothache was asked by doctors if she would “consider Dignitas” following her devastating diagnosis. Olivia Knowles, from Blackpool, began suffering headaches and fatigue in late 2023, and was informed it was “very likely long Covid” – until an emergency dental visit led to a heartbreaking diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Following numerous relapses and attempted treatments throughout 2024, including arduous rounds of chemotherapy, the 33-year-old underwent a stem cell transplant in December 2024, after which she was declared cancer-free for several months. But in early March this year Olivia was dealt the crushing blow that her leukaemia had re-emerged, leaving her with only months to live.
Formerly the owner of a Blackpool hair salon, Olivia summoned all her energy to participate in a 20-mile charity walk around Fairhaven Lake on March 16. Her goal was to contribute towards research at King’s College Hospital.
Olivia expressed her hopes that any donations received would enhance studies into AML – a notoriously aggressive cancer that, according to her, has experienced little progress in treatment over the past 50 years.
Olivia said: “I always thought that relapse would be a real possibility, but obviously, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. All I really miss now is going to work and training. That’s all I want – just my normal day and my normal routine.
“If you could have one day, it might sound odd to some people, but I would just love to take the dog for a run and go to work, more than anything.”
She realised something was amiss last August while competing at the Half Ironman World Championship in Finland. Olivia recalled that although she performed well in swimming and cycling, the 13-mile running part became a struggle of “quickly turned into a ‘let’s just get round this'”.
She continued: “I just wasn’t able to push as hard as I normally would have been able to. But I didn’t feel unwell day to day, so I was just pushing it to the back of my mind.”
After seeking help from a private doctor in November, Olivia was dismissed with what was thought to be long Covid, being told to “expect to feel like this for some time”. The situation took a dire turn when she was rushed to Blackpool A&E suffering from severe toothache and sepsis, which led to the discovery of an aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia.
Olivia shared: “It was a total shock. I’m not saying I was the healthiest person in the world, but I was quite healthy – I didn’t have a lifestyle that was indicative of cancer.”
The salon owner underwent a chemotherapy treatment designed to “completely empty” her bone marrow to see if the cancer cells would come back. This left her immune system decimated, increasing her vulnerability to infections and resulting in a prolonged hospital stay.
She recounted: “I went to hospital on November 7 and I didn’t leave until Christmas Eve.” Olivia faced a rollercoaster of treatments for her leukaemia, with her third round of chemo in April last year showing significant success.
But as she was gearing up for a crucial stem cell transplant, an unexpected delay in her pre-surgery appointment raised alarms. “I thought that seemed strange, so I went down to the hospital and asked to speak to my consultant. It became a very weird scenario in which he wouldn’t come on the phone to speak to my nurse specialist, or me. I ended up speaking to him the day after, and obviously I’d relapsed.”
Discussing the aggressive nature of AML, she said: “Even if there’s a speck of it left, it just regrows. And what regrows is basically the resistant cells, the ones that have evaded and resisted the previous chemo.”
Olivia’s consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital gave her three options – try to get a transplant despite her relapse, join a clinical trial, or “do nothing”. She said a consultant offering a second opinion at another hospital asked her: “Have you ever thought about taking a flight?”
This confused her because AML patients are advised to avoid “anywhere where the air is recirculated”, such as on planes, but “then the penny dropped, and I realised he’d suggested going to Dignitas (the Swiss assisted dying clinic)”.
In a turn of events, November 2024 saw Olivia take a chance on an innovative Car-T treatment – an immunotherapy that reprograms a patient’s T-cells to attack cancer cells. This cutting-edge procedure at King’s College Hospital in London was coupled with a stem cell transplant, and the initial results were hopeful.
Olivia shared: “The initial bone marrow findings were excellent. There were no signs of disease. It was a really positive result at first. I was feeling probably the best I’d felt for quite some time.”
Yet by March 2025, Olivia faced new challenges as she was readmitted because of gut complications – often associated with stem cell transplants. Despite good results just a week before, her condition took a surprising turn.
She explained: “I’d been in for blood literally one week before. The blood work had been very good, no reason for concern.”
However, not long after, devastating news hit. “One week later, I showed active disease. My counts were off. When I got the news, I wanted to go home. It was a bitter pill to swallow after being told there’s no disease.”
Determined to give back, Olivia, alongside her parents Susan and Stephen, impulsively decided to conquer a fundraiser marathon around Fairhaven Lake for the clinical research team at King’s. Despite grappling with her health setback, she undertook the challenge and raised an impressive sum, although she had to stop after 20 miles.
Nonetheless, her effort amassed more than £25,000. Reflecting on the experience, she said: “It went exactly how I expected it to go, because my legs have atrophied so much.”
However, she remains optimistic about the impact of the funds, especially for the pioneering Car-T treatment for AML that King’s is developing. Olivia hailed their efforts, saying they “are on the cusp of something excellent with their development of Car-T treatment for AML”.
She expressed: “For them to have something that can help treat children, it gives you a bit more hope.” By the end of March, Olivia had started a new chemotherapy treatment plan and was aiming to take part in another clinical trial.
Reflecting on her fight with the disease, she said: “We did almost do it, but ‘almost’ doesn’t matter. I did this (walk) so one day the next 33-year-old, the next one-year-old, the next one-month-old, isn’t an ‘almost’.” Supporters are still able to contribute to Olivia’s cause, which remains open for donations online at here.
