Ethan needs your help tackling blood cancer
Ethan's story
Latest news
January 2023: Ethan has now found his perfect match. He received his stem cell transplant in December 2022.
Could you be Ethan's match?
Ethan, 28, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and urgently needs to find a matching blood stem cell donor.
Ethan, who lives with his girlfriend Charlotte, is an ex-professional rugby player. He played in the Sevens World Series from 2015-2020, and is one of Wales’ all-time top point scorers. He has represented Wales at various international championships including:
- Under-20s Six Nations
- World Cup in New Zealand
- Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, and
- 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Ethan has played semi-professionally for Pontypool whilst training as an electrician.
Diagnosis
In February 2022, he started experiencing signs of thrombocytopenia (deficiency of platelets in the blood), which doctors assumed at the time was caused by a viral infection. After a short course of medication, it was assumed that the condition was resolved as his platelet count had returned to a healthy level.
The low platelet count resurfaced in June, worse than before, accompanied by a very sore ‘stomach’ after eating, so he was put back on a course of steroids and immunoglobulin, though this time they had little effect.
It was only when presenting at A&E in July and being given a CT scan that doctors realised Ethan’s spleen had enlarged to twice its normal size. He was admitted for testing to discover a root cause. After various blood and bone marrow tests and further scans, Ethan was diagnosed with the blood cancer Hepatosplenic T cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Delays in receiving the full results of his bone marrow biopsy meant that Ethan had to wait a number of weeks between the first, partial diagnosis and starting treatment. He was due to start his first round of intensive chemotherapy on 23 August 2022. He will need further chemotherapy and a blood stem cell transplant from a donor later this year.
How you can help
If you’re aged 17-55 and in general good health, please consider joining the register by clicking the button below. You may be Ethan’s perfect match.