Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer lifeLive your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletterLive your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletterA man has described himself as “lucky” after an incurable blood cancer was uncovered when a seemingly innocuous stubbed toe led to his neck breaking, a consequence of the disease “eating away” at his bones. Paul Angliss, 62, initially dismissed his severe back pain as general wear and tear, even enduring a painful ascent of Mount Fuji in August 2024 during a holiday with his partner, Priya Gohil, 52, and their 16-year-old daughter Nancy.Relying on heat packs and pain relief, the Stoke Newington resident’s condition dramatically worsened in October 2024. A stubbed toe on a bedroom chair sent a “shockwave” through his spine, fracturing the C3 vertebra in his neck. Following an A&E visit, Mr Angliss, who works in financial reports, was told his situation was “really unusual” and received a diagnosis of myeloma, a blood cancer that targets bones. He described the news as a “real bomb”.open image in galleryPaul Angliss was diagnosed with myeloma in October 2024Mr Angliss, also the author of a comedy fiction novel, promptly began chemotherapy. As of this October, he is in remission.“Myeloma weakens your bones – you wouldn’t know you have it unless you do something like break a bone,” he said.“They found something like 28 holes in my spine, so I was lucky that the myeloma was found early on.“You’re not making as much bone as you are losing it and if I hadn’t had the break, things could have been much worse.“You can end up with a collapsed spine because the myeloma eats away at your bones.”open image in galleryMr Angliss with his partner and daughterMyeloma, often referred to as multiple myeloma, is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and it can cause a wide range of symptoms, according to Blood Cancer UK.The charity says myeloma affects around 6,300 people in the UK each year.While there is currently no cure, treatment helps to control the disease and extend life.In May 2024, Mr Angliss was suffering with “really bad back pain”, which he put down to wear and tear.Two years prior, he said he experienced a similar pain and thought it had simply reoccurred.open image in galleryMr Angliss had ‘really bad back pain’ in May 2024In August 2024, the family went on holiday to Japan – where Mr Angliss “dragged” himself up Mount Fuji on a hike.“I kept telling Priya and Nancy to go ahead, you know being heroic, but all the energy from my legs just went every 10 steps,” he recalled.“I’d sort of get my energy back and I stubbornly got to the top.”He said he spent the rest of the trip with heat patches strapped to his back.open image in galleryMr Angliss ‘dragged’ himself up Mount FujiThen, in October 2024, Mr Angliss was in his bedroom when he stubbed his toe on a chair.“This shockwave went up my spine and I was paralysed, I had spasms in both sides of my neck,” he said.The jolt from stubbing his toe ricocheted up his back and caused the C3 vertebra in his neck to break.He said Ms Gohil called an ambulance, where the paramedics, not realising his neck was broken, ran a few checks, suggested he attend his GP and gave him pain relief medication.open image in galleryMr Angliss and Ms GohilHesaid it took him “two-and-a-half hours” to lie down from standing because he still did not know his neck was broken – prompting him to visit A&E a few days later.After having a series of tests, including an MRI, is neck was put into a brace and his doctor informed him his condition was “really unusual”.“They told me they think I could have myeloma because it’s really unusual for someone to stub their toe and break their neck – that was a real bomb.” A week later, Mr Angliss had further blood tests to confirm the diagnosis.open image in galleryMr Angliss with his daughter NancyMr Angliss was referred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, and he said he was “grateful” as his situation was escalated “very quickly”.He started receiving weekly chemotherapy injections into his stomach in November 2024 for four months.He was then given a stem cell transplant on 10 April 2025, which left him temporarily fatigued and “a bit ill”.Mr Angliss then entered the maintenance phase of his cancer journey where he was monitored, before he was asked if he wanted to enter a new drug trial, which he started on 15 September.open image in galleryMr Angliss started chemotherapy treatment in November 2024“I was apprehensive about it as it involved having a bone marrow biopsy, which I’d had before and it’s really painful,” Mr Angliss said.Thankfully, Mr Angliss said it was not as painful the second time around, and he said he sought “useful” information from a Macmillan Cancer Support forum before putting himself forward for the trial.In September this year, he was informed there were no cancer cells in his blood, and following a bone marrow biopsy, he was given the news on 13 October that he is now in remission.“My oncologist is very positive and there’s lots of alternative treatment drugs I can start if the current ones start to lose their efficacy,” he said.“Some people go into remission for years, and it’s an exciting time for myeloma in terms of the treatments which are being developed.”open image in galleryMr Angliss was given the news he is now in remission in October this yearMr Angliss is now backing Blood Cancer UK’s call for greater awareness around the disease.He also credited Maggie’s, a charity providing care and support for those impacted by cancer, as a great resource.“If you’re getting bad back pain and you can’t put it down to pulling or twisting it, I would go and see your GP,” he said.“You learn a few lessons about yourself with something like this – you don’t take your health for granted, you check in with yourself.“I had a lot of small mercies, such as still being able to work, having my family around me and being diagnosed early – some people don’t have that.”
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Father diagnosed with incurable blood cancer after dismissing back pain as wear and tear
