When Abigail-Kate Preece’s ankle swelled up, she couldn’t have guessed what would happen next
When Abigail-Kate Preece’s ankle swelled up, she couldn’t have guessed what would happen next
A mum was hit with a shocking diagnosis after going to A&E with her daughter, who had a sprained ankle. When 24-year-old Abigail-Kate Preece hurt her ankle while running at her athletics club, she went with her mum, Katherine, to Southport Hospital for a check-up.
Abigail was quickly treated for her routine injury, but Katherine, 56, was asked to return to the hospital for further tests after reporting a nagging pain in her left side. Abigail said: “It was a really strange coincidence.
“I was training for the Liverpool Harriers and sprained my ankle at the beginning of November. I woke up the next morning, and I couldn’t walk; it was so painful. Strangely enough, my mum had a pain in her side, and she’d had it for a couple of weeks. So my dad had to drive us both to A&E.
“I was seen quite quickly, but she was sent home, and they called her back. They were doing so many blood tests at Southport, and then they referred her to Whiston Hospital, and it was a couple of days later they said they were 90% sure it was leukaemia.
“The scary part is she had no crazy symptoms. She had maybe a bit more fatigue than usual. She had been on holiday to Cos in Greece and had been more tired than usual but wasn’t thinking much about it.”
Katherine, a mum of two, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive, fast-growing form of blood cancer. The pain in her left side was believed to be her spleen, which can become enlarged due to the cancerous blood cells.
She is now undergoing chemotherapy in the hope she will make a full recovery. According to Cancer Research UK, around 25% of patients aged between 50 and 59 will survive their leukaemia for five years or more after diagnosis.
Abigail, who lives in Edge Hill, said: “It’s been a rollercoaster. She’s just about to go for her third round of chemotherapy. When she’s been on the chemo, she has been absolutely exhausted and not herself. She’s lost a crazy amount of weight, and when she has come home, she has been more settled but not really eating.
“Everything in terms of treatment is going as it should be, but it’s something we’ve never experienced, and it’s come out of nowhere. Everybody is dealing with it differently. We’re a very small family. We’re all trying to look out for each other.”
In an effort to support her mum, Abigail signed up to take part in the 2026 Paris Marathon, a 26-mile run around France’s capital. She has already raised more than £3,900 for Cure Leukaemia, a charity which funds clinical trials at blood cancer centres across the UK.
On her online fund-raiser, which aims to raise £4,000, Abigail said: “There are no words to describe the fear, the helplessness, or the heartbreak of watching someone you love so much face something so devastating
“Every day right now feels surreal, and it’s so hard to know what to do or how to help. What I can do is channel all of this love, worry and hope into something that might make a difference.”
She added: “I’ve been trying to stay strong for everyone, but the only thing we can do is be there for her. Being an athlete, I felt it was the only thing I could do to raise money for a brilliant cause.
“My mum has dealt with it so incredibly. She’s been so positive where she can. We’ll always remember the strength she’s had at this time. It’s possible we caught it early because she wasn’t unwell at all apart from the pain. She’s classed as young and healthy. I’m trying to be optimistic – I think that’s all we can do.”
