A teenager visited the dentist complaining of discomfort in his upper and lower right wisdom teeth – but what seemed like straightforward toothache turned out to be a life-threatening blood cancer diagnosis. Ethan Harrison, 19, from South Wingfield, assumed he had a tooth infection and might require an extraction.
However, during the consultation, his dentist spotted a swollen lymph node and strongly advised him to visit his GP. After blood tests, Ethan was rushed to Chesterfield Royal Hospital as an emergency admission, where medics diagnosed him with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare cancer that attacks the bone marrow and blood.
Medical staff warned him his timing proved crucial. Had he delayed going to hospital – arriving just four days after his dental visit – he might have had merely three weeks to live.
His mum, Roxy Bond, 37, said: “It felt like a story you’d hear about someone else, not your son.”
She revealed he’d been suffering with toothache for the previous month before deciding to seek dental treatment.
View 4 Images(Image: Roxy Bond / SWNS)
She said: “He’d been having a few different symptoms, like shortness of breath, a fever and a swollen lymph node the size of a golf ball on the left side of his neck which formed whilst he was on holiday in Cyprus the week before. We were rushed through at the hospital because the doctors and nurses already knew it was probably leukaemia.”
Roxy revealed her son began chemotherapy last week, acknowledging his recovery will be a “long process” while stressing the cancer is “very curable”. Ethan, who works as a forklift driver, is anticipated to require four rounds of chemotherapy and has embarked on his first, during which he’ll spend a month in hospital receiving twice-daily treatment with two separate medications, reports the Mirror.
She said: “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.
View 4 Images(Image: Roxy Bond / SWNS)
“He’s never been in a hospital before and now he’s having bone marrow biopsies, PICC lines inserted and constant blood tests. 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.”
The diagnosis meant Ethan was forced onto sick leave, while Roxy had to put off starting a new job in order to stay by his side. She said: “I’ll be there day and night. We’re watching films, colouring and keeping busy – there’s always another doctor or nurse to talk to.”
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While Ethan and Roxy remain at the hospital, her husband Chris, 52, is holding things together back at the family home with Ethan’s younger siblings, 18-year-old William and 12-year-old Gracie.
“It’s had a ripple effect on everything but I don’t think anyone can really believe it yet,” she said. “Cancer’s never been a thing in our family. It has shown how much support we have around us though. Everyone has been super shocked but offering so much help.”
View 4 Images(Image: Roxy Bond / SWNS)
To rally behind him throughout his recovery, Ethan’s pals have set up a crowdfunding page, which has already amassed nearly £3,500 in just seven days.
Friend Livinia Wragg said: “Despite everything that has been thrown at him, Ethan continues to amaze us every single day. Anyone who knows him will know exactly the kind of person he is – kind, caring, funny, witty and unbelievably generous.”
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Anyone wishing to donate to the GoFundMe can do so here