A 24-year-old twin from Cardiff, given only six months to live after her leukaemia returned, is urgently raising £500,000 for potentially curative treatment abroad. Caitlin Leggett says the thought of leaving her identical twin sister Grace alone is 'unthinkable'.
Diagnosis and Initial Treatment
Caitlin was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in April 2025, with a persistent rash being the only symptom. After chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in December 2025, she achieved remission. However, in May 2026, doctors discovered the cancer had returned, and UK treatment options are no longer considered curative.
Facing a Grim Prognosis
With just six months to live under her current treatment plan, Caitlin is now seeking potentially curative therapy overseas, most likely in the US, where costs could reach £500,000. Her twin sister Grace has quit her job as a complex care personal assistant in Bristol to move back to Cardiff and support her.
'We're only 24 – nobody expects this to happen… Being twins as well, you're not supposed to have one twin not be there,' Grace told PA Real Life. Caitlin added, 'It's unthinkable. We've gone through life together and I don't want our story to end here.'
A Close Bond from the Start
Caitlin and Grace have always been exceptionally close, even sharing a student house at the University of Bristol. After graduating in July 2024, Caitlin planned to join the Army as an intelligence officer. But in March 2025, she developed a rash that wouldn't go away. Blood tests on April 3, 2025, led to her diagnosis the following day.
AML symptoms typically include pale skin, fatigue, breathlessness, bruising, and weight loss, but Caitlin experienced none of these – only the rash, which can also be a sign of blood cancer.
Stem Cell Transplant Setbacks
Treatment required a stem cell transplant, and the family was tested for matches. Initially, Grace was told she would likely be a match, as they believed they were fraternal twins. However, genetic testing in June 2025 revealed they were actually identical (monozygotic) twins. This meant Grace's stem cells were too similar to Caitlin's to be effective, as the body must recognise the cells as foreign to combat cancer.
No other family members matched either. While waiting for an unrelated donor, Caitlin achieved remission in May 2025 after chemotherapy, but the cancer returned to her skin in August 2025. She then participated in a clinical trial for menin inhibitors in Manchester, which cleared the skin leukaemia and put her back into remission.
In December 2025, she received a stem cell transplant from a donor, with full-body radiotherapy beforehand. The treatment seemed successful, and she was in remission again in January 2026.
Cancer Returns Aggressively
Caitlin was scheduled for monthly bone marrow monitoring, but persuaded her consultant to add an extra test in May 2026. That test revealed the leukaemia had returned, with blast counts rising from 5.7% to 37% in just one week. Since May 2026, she has been on another drug trial for Bleximenib, but doctors have advised these treatments are not curative. A second stem cell transplant is not possible in the UK, and her current plan gives her only six months.
Raising Funds for Overseas Treatment
Caitlin is now exploring specialised leukaemia treatment in America or CAR-T cell therapy in China or Singapore. She and Grace have launched a GoFundMe page titled 'Saving Caitlin' to raise £500,000 for treatment, travel, accommodation, and sustenance for accompanying family members. They are appealing for help in this fight.
If the funds cannot be raised, Caitlin may not live to see her 25th birthday. 'It's incredibly difficult to think about,' she said. 'At 24, I always assumed I had my whole life ahead of me. 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. What I would miss most isn't one particular event, it's the chance to keep living an ordinary life with the people I love and growing older alongside my twin sister. Those are the things that matter most to me, and that's why I'm doing everything I can to find another treatment option. I don't want to miss out on the future we always thought we'd share together.'
Donations can be made to Caitlin's fundraiser on her GoFundMe page.
