Stephen McAlley, 43, initially dismissed his sons symptoms as flu
A Cheshire father of a 12-year-old boy who received a shock diagnosis within 24 hours of a GP appointment has told of the warning signs to look out for.
Stephen McAlley initially dismissed his son Ollie’s symptoms as flu after he complained of tiredness and pain in his lower back. The 43-year-old said he ‘certainly wouldn’t have’ taken Ollie to a doctor if it was not for his concerned wife, Kirsty, who is a nurse.
Within hours of Ollie’s visit to his local GP in February 2025, the father-of-three said his son was rushed to Warrington Hospital, where they took some blood and broke the news that he had a ‘high risk’ form of leukaemia, starting chemotherapy at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital the very next day.
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Stephen, an operations manager for Network Rail, said Ollie’s treatment is ongoing but that he may need a stem cell transplant in future, which is part of the reason why Stephen has signed up to run the London Marathon for the charity Anthony Nolan.
Stephen, from Warrington, said: “Take your kids to the GP. If you think that there’s something going on, take them because I wouldn’t have done, if it wasn’t for my wife.
“It’s just the whole stupid dad mentality of ‘man up, you’ll be fine, get on with it’, which is just complete rubbish in hindsight.”
Ollie’s symptoms first started in December 2024 while the family were on holiday in New York City for Christmas, where Stephen noted he was ‘fluey’ and ‘really struggling to get around’.
Once the family got back to the UK in January 2025, Stephen said Ollie kept complaining of tiredness and a sore back.
“My wife took him to the pictures a couple of times,” Stephen said. “He was in one of those cinemas where you lie down in the seats and he just screamed out, holding his back. It only lasted 20 seconds or something like that.”
“Then he did it again at home a few days later,” he added.
Within a few days of Ollie complaining of a sore back, Stephen said his wife called their local GP and managed to get an appointment for 4pm that same day. Kirsty and Ollie saw a junior doctor, who Stephen said was ‘amazing’ because she ‘trusted her gut’ and went to her supervisor, who urged them to go for further tests.
That is when Stephen said Kirsty called him and told him to meet them at Warrington Hospital, where Ollie went straight into a ward to have blood taken. By midnight, Stephen said four doctors took him and his wife into an empty side room away from their son and confirmed Ollie’s blast blood cells were ‘through the roof’ and they were ‘pretty sure it was some form of leukaemia’.
Stephen said: “They told us that we needed to go to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital straight away and asked us if we wanted an ambulance. I remember the doctor basically said: ‘You’re going to be spending the next few months in hospital’. Initially, it was just complete confusion, panic, and I was scared to death.”
Stephen said he went home to pack a suitcase for Ollie at around 2am, before having to wake up his two other children – Evie and Caden, 20 and 17 respectively – and tell them the news.
Stephen said: “I was on my own and sobbing as I was driving, so I ended up giving my mum a call and I just remember her screaming. Then when I got home, the kids were fast asleep. So I shouted upstairs and asked them to come down. We sat in a bedroom and I explained to them that Ollie’s bloods came back, and what the doctors thought it was.”
“Everyone’s crying…The three of us were upset and cried and had a hug. And then I basically just tried to calm them down.”
At Alder Hey, Stephen said Ollie was immediately wheeled into theatre for his first round of chemotherapy and to perform a Bone Marrow Aspirate, which confirmed it was leukaemia. Within a few days, Ollie received his specific diagnosis of High-Risk Philadelphia Positive ALL.
Ollie has had multiple rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which Stephen said ‘completely nuked everything in his whole body’ and scared the father of three because of how sick it made his son.
At present, Stephen said Ollie’s cancer is currently at an ‘undetectable’ level, but he will continue to be tested regularly until April 2027. It is possible Ollie may end up needing a stem cell transplant.
Inspired by their son’s leukaemia diagnosis, Stephen said he signed up for the London Marathon on April 26, which Stephen said Ollie is ‘buzzing’ for him to undertake.
For Stephen, the most important thing is raising awareness of leukaemia, but specifically of charities like Anthony Nolan: “Loads of people that we know – friends and family – have already signed up, which has been amazing for us.”
“There’s been a couple of positives to come from Ollie’s diagnosis and that’s certainly one of them. We plan to get as many people on [the stem cell registry] as possible.”
You can donate to Stephen’s London Marathon fundraiser here.
