Family of Barnsley dad who died after gruelling chemo journey back research into “kinder” leukaemia treatment

Dad-of-two Dene Firth passed away at just 48 years old, after a fight with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer.

His wife Diane and two children, 17-year-old Megan and 14-year-old Alfie, are backing new research projects which are trying to establish 'kinder and more effective' treatments for AML. 

Diane said: "The chemotherapy he went through was awful. I went to the hospital every day and was still trying to look after our two children. It was unbearable at times.

"It’s so important that research into AML continues, so that fewer families are forced to watch their loved ones suffer like Dene did."

Dene started to feel fatigued, had night sweats, and his foot swelled up and became painful. He was sent to the GP and then to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, where he was diagnosed in 2019.

"We were in disbelief, and very frightened. But despite our fear of the future, we remained hopeful it could be cured. Dene was a football coach for his son’s team, he was healthy," said Diane.

After his diagnosis the hunt for a stem cell donor began, but by the time a match was found, Dene still had over 40 per cent cancerous cells in his body, when he needed less than five per cent to have a transplant.

He opted for palliative care, rather than a third round of chemotherapy, and sadly passed away on July 9, 2020.

AML affects over 3,000 people in the UK each year, and has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers with just one in 10 people surviving longer than five years after being diagnosed.

Leukaemia UK has this week announced over £600,000 worth of funding into four new research projects.

Fiona Hazell, Chief Executive of Leukaemia UK, said: "Better, kinder treatments are desperately needed. We are grateful to every single supporter who has helped fund this research, allowing us to improve the lives of people affected by leukaemia."

Dr Kevin Rattigan, a funded researcher at the University of Glasgow, has identified the nutrients which AML needs to survive and developed a protein which can reduce those nutrients.

Dr Rattigan said: "I want to test if this protein works in experiments that represent what happens in patients. This could open up a new treatment option for AML patients, and potentially patients with other types of blood cancer."