A mother from Norfolk who attributed her severe lower back pain to sleeping on an old mattress was devastated to learn she had an aggressive form of leukaemia. Gabrielle Altoft, 32, began experiencing 'horrendous' back pain in November 2025 after swapping beds with her son, initially blaming the discomfort on a memory foam mattress that was a few years old.
Despite painkillers failing to provide relief, her GP dismissed the pain as an injury and referred her for physiotherapy. Blood tests at the time reportedly showed a low white blood cell count, but no abnormalities were flagged. The paralegal bought a new mattress, but the pain worsened to the point where she was 'unable to walk' and 'doubled over in pain'.
After returning to her GP for a separate gynaecology appointment in December, she was referred for further blood tests on 16 December. The following day, she was urgently called to A&E, where doctors diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer. She began chemotherapy the next day.
Gabrielle, from King's Lynn, said: 'I thought I was going to die because of how ill I felt.' She is now urging others to push for a diagnosis if they feel something is wrong, adding: 'It was all really surreal – I pretended that nothing had happened in front of the children.'
