CARDIFF WOMAN SEEKS US TREATMENT AS LEUKAEMIA RETURNS

Caitlin Leggett, from Cardiff, is seeking potentially curative treatment abroad after doctors told her that options available in the United Kingdom were unlikely to cure her acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). She was first diagnosed with the aggressive white blood cell cancer in April 2025, after a persistent rash prompted blood tests. She achieved remission following two months of chemotherapy, but was informed in May 2025 that the cancer had returned. Treatment and associated costs overseas, most likely in the United States, could reach £500,000.

Leggett had planned to join the Army and train as an intelligence officer after graduating in July 2024, with a medical assessment booked for April 2025. In March of that year she developed a rash that did not respond to pharmacy creams, leading to blood tests and a referral to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. She later underwent a stem cell transplant after achieving her initial remission. During the assessment process, doctors discovered that Leggett and her sister Grace are identical twins, having previously been believed to be fraternal because they developed in separate amniotic sacs.

The discovery that the sisters share near-identical DNA meant Grace was ruled out as a stem cell donor for Caitlin. Clinicians sought an alternative donor from the transplant register while Caitlin underwent chemotherapy. Caitlin stated that she does not want their shared story to end, describing the prospect of leaving her twin as unthinkable. A fundraising effort is under way to cover the substantial costs of overseas treatment.