A 24-year-old woman from Cardiff has tragically died just days after her family made a desperate plea to help her 'keep living.' Caitlin Leggett passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on June 15, 2026, after experiencing a sudden and serious brain bleed followed by a series of strokes.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Caitlin was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells, in April 2025. She had graduated from the University of Bristol in July 2024 and planned to join the Army as an intelligence officer. However, before her medical assessment, she developed a persistent rash. After a GP visit and blood tests, she was referred to the Llewellyn Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where she received her diagnosis.
Following months of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in December 2025, Caitlin achieved complete remission. But in May 2026, doctors discovered the cancer had returned, and treatment options in the UK were unlikely to be curative. She was given six months to live on her current treatment plan.
Fundraising for Overseas Treatment
Determined to fight, Caitlin and her family began fundraising for £500,000 to pursue treatment abroad, including specialised leukaemia treatment in America or CAR-T cell therapy in China or Singapore. Her identical twin sister, Grace, set up a GoFundMe page that raised over £120,000. Grace wrote: 'Caitlin is choosing to live in the hope of a bright future that she and every young person deserves.'
Just a week before her death, Caitlin told PA Real Life: 'At 24, I always assumed I had my whole life ahead of me. 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.'
Final Days
On the Facebook page 'Saving Caitlin,' her family announced: 'In the last few days, Caitlin experienced a sudden and serious brain bleed, followed by a series of strokes which led to a rapid decline in her health. Surrounded by the love and care of her family, Caitlin passed away peacefully at 02.42 on 15th June, aged 24.' Further details about her funeral and the fundraising campaign will be shared in due course.
