A popular young East Kilbride barman says he won’t forget the generosity shown to him since being diagnosed with a rare cancer.
Greenhills Bar worker Aidan Fitzpatrick was fit and healthy before suddenly being struck down with severe sickness and fatigue in April.
An emergency dash to A&E discovered his appendix had burst, but nothing could prepare the 23-year-old for what doctors told him next - he had cancer in his blood.
“I was fine one minute and just got really ill really quickly”, explained Aidan.
“I thought I had a stomach bug so I just ignored it and went to work. I then felt really rotten having bad night sweats and feeling really tired. I’d come in from work at 5pm and would need to sleep.
“I went to A&E and was told I had a burst appendix. They took my bloods and my counts were all wrong and they warned me there could be something brewing, like cancer.
“I thought never, it’s never going to be cancer. I got my appendix out and two days later they took my bloods again and they told me they found leukaemia.”
Aidan was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) - a rare cancer thought to affect only 160 people in the UK each year.
Doctors discovered he had no white blood cells which had caused his appendix to burst as his immune system was so dangerously low.
Aidan was started on an intensive course of chemotherapy drugs straight away as, with this particular cancer, the first couple of days are crucial following detection as there is a danger of fatal blood clots.
Aidan spent a month in the haematology ward at Monklands Hospital where he was hit with setback after setback suffering numerous infections, including a serious lung infection.
“I didn’t expect the diagnosis at all”, he added. “I live quite an active lifestyle, working and going out and eating well.
“Most people being treated for this are older, you just don’t expect that at 23.
“Being in hospital that long was like mental torture, staring at four walls, it was crazy. I was only allowed one visitor a day as people in the ward were so sick and I kept getting setbacks, thinking I was going home then getting another infection.
“The staff were heroes - the most amazing people ever who took such good care of me.”
Aidan is now being cared for at home by his parents Elizabeth and Jim, who are both nurses, and is being supported by sister Danielle, 29, and 22-year-old girlfriend Karen.
So far he has endured 17 brutal sessions of arsenic chemo and has been told he has around 43 to go.
Nowadays, with ATRA and other targeted therapies, such as arsenic trioxide (ATO), APL has shifted from an often-fatal disease to a highly curable form of leukaemia.
This type of cancer enters remission quickly with a long course of chemo afterwards till bone marrow shows its clear of cancer.
Despite his devastating diagnosis and the gruelling treatment still ahead of him, Aidan insists he is determined to stay positive through it all.
He went on: “It was a shock to the system. It was the end of the world for the first couple of days then I was like, no, we can take this on.
“Since then I’ve came at it all with a positive outlook. I am a positive person and laughter is my coping mechanism, so I just laugh it off - otherwise you’d cry.”
Now in a show of support his workmates at the Greenhills Bar have rallied round the Celtic fan and organised a charity Celtic locals v Rangers locals match to raise funds for Blood Cancer UK.
The match will take place at Ballerup pitches on Saturday, July 29 with kick off at 1pm.
Bar manager Nicola Farrell said: “Our staff members Ross Murray and Tony Farrell really wanted to do something for Aidan after hearing his news. We all grouped together and organised a charity match.
“A huge amount of people want to play in it and donate to the charity, it’s just been amazing.
“We just want to stand by Aidan. Absolutely everybody in the pub and the community knows who he is. He’s the kindest, most generous boy you’ll ever meet. So many people want to be there for him and everyone is sending him messages of encouragement.”
Initially wanting to donate the funds to Aidan while he is unable to work, staff revealed their generous workmate instead chose to give to Blood Cancer UK to help others like him.
Paying thanks, Aidan said: “That was a lovely thing for them to do, but for me I think it’s much better spent helping people like me when I see the amount of pain people are going through with blood cancer.
“I’ll probably get better but others won’t.
“I love football and most of them do too so they came up with the idea of a charity match and let me choose the charity. I thought that was an amazing thing to do.
“I owe a massive thank you to the Greenhills Bar staff and punters for the charity match and for the support they’ve given me since day one of my diagnosis. I owe them a lot and I won’t forget the generosity people around me have shown.
“It’s really lifted my spirits, you don’t get many wins when you have cancer, and this is definitely a win. And I can’t wait to see the guys from this boozer playing football, some of them haven’t kicked a ball in 20 years it will be hilarious!”
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