A young woman from Cardiff has been given just six months to live after an aggressive blood cancer was discovered following what initially appeared to be nothing more than a stubborn skin irritation.
Caitlin Leggett, 24, received a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia in April 2025, with an unusual rash being the sole indicator that anything was amiss.
The condition, which attacks white blood cells, presented none of the typical warning signs such as fatigue, breathlessness or unexplained weight loss.
Miss Leggett had been preparing for a career in the armed forces, with aspirations of becoming an intelligence officer, when the persistent rash prompted her GP to arrange blood tests.
Mia presented none of the typical warning signs of leukaemia
|PA REAL LIFE
Within 24 hours of those tests being conducted, she learned she had cancer.
Following two months of chemotherapy, Miss Leggett entered remission in May 2025, offering a glimmer of hope to her family.
However, the treatment pathway became complicated when genetic testing revealed an unexpected truth about the twins' relationship.
Miss Leggett and her sister Grace had spent their entire lives believing they were fraternal twins, which would have made Grace an ideal stem cell donor.
Grace and Caitlin were confirmed as identical twins in 2025
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Testing in June 2025 confirmed they were in fact identical, rendering Grace's stem cells unsuitable as the body must recognise donor cells as foreign to combat the disease.
With no family members proving compatible, the search for an alternative donor began.
By August 2025, the cancer had returned to Miss Leggett's skin in what doctors described as an abnormal relapse.
A clinical trial using menin inhibitors successfully cleared the leukaemia from her skin, and a second transplant was scheduled for December 2025.
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Days before the procedure, however, tests confirmed the cancer had returned once more.
Miss Leggett proceeded with the transplant, though additional full-body radiotherapy was required beforehand.
By January 2026, she was declared to be in remission for the second time.
The relief proved short-lived. After requesting an additional check-up from her consultant, doctors discovered the leukaemia had resurfaced.
"Initially, the blast count came back at 5.7 per cent, just over remission, but then about a week later it went up to 37 per cent. So it's quite fast-growing," Miss Leggett explained.
Since May 2026, she has been participating in a Bexarlimab drug trial, though physicians have advised that available treatments are not curative.
Miss Leggett's twin sister Grace, has left her position as a complex care personal assistant in Bristol to return home and support her family during this devastating period.
The 24-year-old has been told she has six months to live
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"We're only 24 - nobody expects this to happen... being twins as well, you're not supposed to have one twin not be there. We've gone through life together, and I don't want our story to end here," Grace said.
The sisters have launched a GoFundMe campaign titled Saving Caitlin, seeking £500,000 to fund treatment overseas, with options including specialist leukaemia care in America or CAR-T cell therapy in China or Singapore.
The funds would also cover travel, accommodation and living expenses for accompanying relatives.
"At 24, I always assumed I had my whole life ahead of me," Miss Leggett reflected. "There are so many things I still want to do, places I want to see, and memories I want to make with the people I love."
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