A bus driver who thought he had simply injured his back lifting a mattress is now battling incurable blood cancer.
Terry Harper, from Chislehurst in south-east London, started complaining of backache in February 2022 after carrying a vacuum-packed mattress up the stairs.
The 62-year-old was initially told his excruciating back pain was a slipped disc – but tests later revealed he had stage 3 multiple myeloma.
“I can’t describe that emotional turmoil that you go through when you think you’ve just got a bad back and are told you’ve got cancer eating away at your spine,” Mr Harper told The Independent.
Mr Harper, who previously worked manual labour jobs and quit due to his backache, recalled getting a CT scan in March 2022 at the Princess Royal University Hospital in south London. He claimed doctors said he had two slipped discs and that he should get better in six weeks.
However, just over six weeks later, in April 2022, he was unable to get out of bed.
By the third day of being bed-bound, his partner Della called 111 and he was blue-lighted back to the hospital, where further tests revealed he had multiple myeloma.
Mr Harper was told the blood cancer had “eaten away at the vertebrae” in his spine, causing him to be 4.5 inches shorter and his discs to collapse. It also caused 12 tumours on his spine and triggered osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones.
Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. It causes the bone marrow to make plasma cells, which form part of your immune system, that do not work properly, the NHS explained. Bone pain, particularly in the back, hips and ribs, fatigue, muscle weakness and headaches are all symptoms of myeloma.
Mr Harper initially underwent chemotherapy in December 2023, but in June this year, his cancer returned and he went back on chemotherapy.
The London bus driver, who goes to chemotherapy twice a week and still works four days, said his busy schedule has “run him to the ground”.
“I came home from work last week, and my partner said: ‘You look ill, you can’t fight chemo, cancer, and work.’”
However, with the high cost of living, Mr Harper said only earning 80 per cent of his wage as sick pay is not enough and the £100 a week benefits he is entitled to “doesn’t even cover the shopping bill”.
He added: “I’ve been a bus driver for 20 years, they look after me, I only do five hours a day, but again, I’m earning less than half of what I used to earn. Financially, it’s hard.”
His long-term partner, who is also a bus driver, is working six days a week to help keep up with costs, but the physical and financial toll is immense.
His daughter Olivia Catterall has launched a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising £1,800 to help Mr Harper take some time off work, recover properly from treatment, and cover basic household bills.
More than 33,000 people in the UK are living with myeloma. Despite being the third most common type of blood cancer, myeloma is frequently missed, as its symptoms, including back pain, easily broken bones, fatigue and recurring infection, are vague and often linked to general ageing or minor conditions, according to Myeloma UK.
Janis McCulloch, head of campaigns at the blood cancer charity, said: “Myeloma has one of the longest times to diagnosis of any cancer. Catching it earlier is vital, but we can’t do it alone and we need the government to prioritise improving diagnosis.
“One of the biggest barriers to diagnosis remains identifying the symptoms quickly and before too much damage is done.”
A spokesperson at Princess Royal University Hospital said: “We are sorry to hear Mr Harper was dissatisfied with his care.
“Myeloma blood cancer can be extremely difficult to diagnose, particularly in its early stages. Patients have a less than 1 per cent chance that their back pain is due to cancer when they first visit a doctor, and myeloma is rare, being only 2 per cent of all cancer types.
“We would be happy to further discuss Mr Harper’s case with him upon request.”
