A 20-year-old college student has been given just weeks to live after presenting to the ER with lower back pain, thinking he had just pulled a muscle.

Dylan Lamb, who studies international business at the University of Liverpool, first noticed the pain in April 2022 before receiving painkillers from his GP near his family’s home in Staffordshire.

But weeks later she rushed to the ER with her mother Kim after the pain became “unbearable.” It was there that a blood test confirmed that his white blood cell count was “through the roof” and he was admitted to hospital for further testing.

Lamb was quickly diagnosed with precursor T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and was receiving chemotherapy three days later, said his girlfriend of three years, Phoebe Cole, 20.

She added: ‘He had this pain in his lower back which could have been from a number of different things, he thought he had pulled a muscle. She was coming home for Easter, and she got progressively worse, she lost her appetite and was getting sick.

College student Dylan Lamb has been given just weeks to live after appearing on A&E with lower back pain, thinking he had just pulled a muscle.

After arriving at A&E, Mr. Lamb was quickly diagnosed with precursor T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and three days later was receiving chemotherapy.

His mother took him to the ER in excruciating pain and a blood test showed his white blood cells were through the roof. It all happened so fast that he was diagnosed with leukemia and then three days later he was undergoing chemotherapy.

The student was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital, where they have a specialist haematology team and an Adolescent Cancer Trust Unit, where he received further chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

He also endured bone marrow biopsies, high doses of steroids, and intrathecal injections. Lamb also made the decision to freeze his sperm in case he became infertile after chemotherapy and shaved off his hair.

His aunt, Kelly Payne, described how the effect of Dynan’s treatment was “devastating”.

Describing a GoFundMe page for Dylan, he said, “Dylan is a kind, funny, genuine, personable, caring, life-loving young man.” Heartbreak doesn’t even begin to explain how the whole family felt.

“The effect this treatment had on Dylan’s body and mental health was devastating. His face swollen and swollen due to the high doses of steroids, his stomach extremely swollen due to the swelling of his internal organs that prevented him from sleeping, and the mental health effects of him leaving him unwilling to see the beings. dear to him

After a change in chemotherapy, Dylan was told he was in remission on July 5, 2022. A donor was found and Dylan underwent a stem cell transplant on September 22 and 23 before being released. October 6.

It wasn’t long before Dylan started to feel ‘normal again’ and he went back to college. But in June 2023, Dylan had lower back pain again.

Dylan’s only option for life-saving treatment is a clinical trial in the United States that would involve CAR T therapy and base editing, where DNA from T cells is taken from the donor and redesigned.

Miss Cole said: ‘Literally two weeks ago the back pain came back and she said she knew this pain and it felt familiar. She went back to her doctors at Nottingham City Hospital and asked them to check it out.

‘A blood test showed nothing, and he went home. She was admitted to the hospital because he wanted an MRI, it showed nothing, and she had another blood test on June 29 that showed his blood cells were skewed.

They told him that the leukemia has returned and that he has weeks or months to live. It was a huge shock to the system, especially since we had been told it was fine, not fine, and fine again.

‘His family is amazing and supporting him. He keeps his sense of humor and is very animated, but I know that deep down he must be scared.

Dylan’s only option for life-saving treatment is a clinical trial in the United States that would involve CAR T therapy and base editing, where the DNA of T cells is taken from the donor and redesigned, so that they attack only leukemia and not each other. This would be followed by another stem cell transplant.

The treatment could cost more than £500,000 and Dylan’s family set up a GoFundMe page to try to raise enough money to fly to the US for treatment. The page has already raised almost £17,000 in three days.

Miss Cole added: ‘It will be life changing for him and the rest of us. [to get treatment in America]. The support so far has been insane, the most amazing thing to see is how many people who don’t know him are donating.

It means a lot to all of us.

MailOnline has contacted the Nottingham University Hospital Trust.