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A man has described himself as “lucky” after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. blood cancer This is revealed when a seemingly innocuous stubbed toe causes him to break his neck, resulting in the disease “eating away” at his bones.
Paul Angliss, 62, initially dismissed his serious matter back pain Due to normal wear and tear, he even endured a painful climb of Mount Fuji in August 2024 while on holiday with his partner, Priya Gohil, 52, and their 16-year-old daughter Nancy.
Relying on heat packs and pain relief stoke newington The resident’s condition deteriorated dramatically in October 2024.
A stubbed toe on a bedroom chair sent a “shock” to her spinal cord, fracturing the C3 vertebra in her neck.
After an A&E visit, Mr Angliss, who works in financial reporting, was told his condition was “really unusual” and he received a diagnosis of myeloma, a blood cancer that targets the bones.
He described this news as a “real bomb”.
Mr Angliss, who is also the author of a comedy fiction novel, immediately began chemotherapy. As of this October, he is in remission.
“Myeloma weakens your bones — unless you do something like break a bone, you won’t know you have it,” he said.
“They found something like 28 holes in my spinal cord, so I was lucky that the myeloma was detected early.
“You’re not building as much bone as you are losing it and if I hadn’t gotten a break, things could have been much worse.
“Your spine may collapse as the myeloma eats away at your bones.”
Myeloma, often called multiple myeloma, is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and can cause a wide range of symptoms. Blood Cancer UK.
The charity says myeloma affects around 6,300 people in the UK each year.
Although there is currently no cure, treatment helps control the disease and prolong life.
In May 2024, Mr Angliss was suffering from “really severe back pain”, which worsened his condition.
Two years ago, he said he had experienced similar pain and thought it had happened again.
In August 2024, the family went on holiday to Japan – where Mr Angliss “dragged” himself up Mount Fuji.
“I kept telling Priya and Nancy to move forward, you know bravery, but all the energy in my legs was gone every 10 steps,” he recalled.
“I had to get my energy back and I persevered and got to the top.”
He said he spent the rest of the journey with heat patches on his back.
Then, in October 2024, Mr Angliss was in his bedroom when he stubbed his toe on a chair.
“The shock wave reached my spinal cord and I became paralyzed, with spasms on both sides of my neck,” he said.
The blow from his injured toe landed on his back and fractured the C3 vertebra in his neck.
He said Ms Gohil called an ambulance, where paramedics, not realizing she had broken her neck, carried out some tests, suggested she go to her GP and gave her painkillers.
He said it took him “two and a half hours” to go from standing to lying down because he still didn’t know his neck was broken – prompting him to visit A&E a few days later.
After a series of tests, including a MRIA neck brace was placed and her doctor informed her that her condition was “really unusual”.
“He told me he thought I might have myeloma because it’s really unusual for someone to stub their toe and break their neck – he was a real bomb.”
A week later, Mr Angliss underwent further blood tests to confirm the diagnosis.
Mr Angliss was referred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, and he said he was “grateful” as his condition had deteriorated “very rapidly”.
In November 2024, he began receiving weekly chemotherapy injections in his stomach for four months.
He then had a stem cell transplant on April 10, 2025, which left him temporarily fatigued and “a little sick”.
Mr Angliss then entered the maintenance phase of his cancer journey, where he was monitored, before being asked if he wanted to enter a new drug trial, which he started on September 15.
“I was apprehensive about it because it involved a bone marrow biopsy, which I’ve had before and it’s really painful,” Mr Angliss said.
Thankfully, Mr. Angliss said it wasn’t as painful the second time around, and he said he sought out “useful” information from one Macmillan Cancer Support Forum before putting itself forward for trial.
In September this year, he was informed that there were no cancer cells in his blood, and after a bone marrow biopsy, he was given the news on October 13 that he was now in remission.
“My oncologist is very positive and I can start several alternative treatment medications if the current medications begin to lose their efficacy,” he said.
“Some people go into remission for years, and it’s an exciting time for myeloma in terms of the treatments being developed.”
Mr Angliss is now supporting Blood Cancer UK’s call for greater awareness of the disease.
She also credited Maggie’s, a charity that provides care and support to people affected by cancer, as a great resource.
“If your back is hurting a lot and you can’t stop stretching or twisting it, I would go and see your GP,” he said.
“You learn some lessons about yourself that way – you don’t take your health for granted, you check in with yourself.
“I had a lot of little joys, like still being able to work, having my family around me and being diagnosed early – some people don’t have that.”