Multiple Myeloma: Fiona battles incurable blood cancer while husband Niall cycles Tour de France route to raise funds for ‘Cure Leukaemia’ breakthrough

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Ballymena couple Fiona and Niall McCamphill are a formidable team - for while she is battling incurable blood cancer, he is training to cycle almost 2,200 miles in three weeks to raise funds for a cure.

“In 2017, it was our 25th wedding anniversary and we had made plans to travel to see friends in the US to celebrate,” said Fiona, 53.

“The problem was that I was in a lot of pain and struggling with my mobility. I wouldn’t be able to go. I thought it was coming from previous surgery on my back after fracturing bones.

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“We made an appointment with my spinal surgeon again and, after scans and X-rays, he spotted white dots on my spine and skull.

While Fiona McCamphill (53) fights incurable blood cancer, her husband Niall (54) is cycling 2,200 miles to raise funds for a cure.While Fiona McCamphill (53) fights incurable blood cancer, her husband Niall (54) is cycling 2,200 miles to raise funds for a cure.
While Fiona McCamphill (53) fights incurable blood cancer, her husband Niall (54) is cycling 2,200 miles to raise funds for a cure.

“Our lives totally changed focus that moment when I was told, ‘you have cancer, it’s incurable!’”

She was soon diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.

“My consultant and all the staff in haematology in the Belfast City Hospital became our new family.”

A year later, she had a massive dose of chemotherapy, followed the next day by a stem cell transplant, using healthy stem cells that she produced myself.

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“I spent a month in isolation. I received blood transfusions and a lot of nursing care. It was tough but I had come through it. Three and a half years later, I’m still fighting and loving the simple things in everyday life.”

They are fundraising to help find a cure through Cure Leukaemia. This funds a nationwide program called TAP, the Trials Acceleration Program. It has 12 bases in the UK, one of which is in the Belfast City Hospital. One person in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer every 14 minutes.

Her husband Niall is just as defiant towards the illness as his wife; to raise funds for a cure he is going to cycle the full 21 stages of the Tour de France two weeks before the professionals.

At age 54, that means he will cycle 100 miles a day for three weeks over the Pyrenees mountains, with only two rest days - a total of 2,180 miles.

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He is part of a group of 19 men and women from the UK, raising £1million for Cure Leukaemia from 24 June 2022, along with former England and Crystal Palace footballer and leukaemia survivor, Geoff Thomas.

“An amazing feat of endurance and strength,” Fiona said of her husband. “I compare his training regime, and the effort he is making, to my journey through chemo and treatment. The sickness, the exhaustion, good days and bad, sweat and tears. You really don’t know how strong you are until being strong is your only option.”

Follow Tour21 on the NBC sports channel and donate via https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/niall-mccamphill

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