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A dad has shared his "lucky" experience after his incurable cancer was detected when a stubbed toe led to a broken neck. In May last year, Paul Angliss , 62, initially dismissed his "really bad back pain" in his lower back as wear and tear. Two years earlier, he said he'd experienced similar discomfort and assumed it had simply returned. A few months later, in August 2024, Paul and his partner Priya Gohil, 52, and their 16 year old daughter Nancy, jetted off on holiday to Japan, where he "dragged" himself up Mount Fuji in excruciating pain during a trek. "I kept telling Priya and Nancy to go ahead, you know being heroic, but all the energy from my legs just went every 10 steps," he recalled. "I'd sort of get my energy back and I stubbornly got to the top." Paul said he spent the rest of the trip with heat patches strapped to his back. Then, in October 2024, Paul, from Stoke Newington, North London, was in his bedroom when he stubbed his toe on a chair. "This shockwave went up my spine and I was paralysed, I had spasms in both sides of my neck," he said. Unknown to Paul, who works on financial reports, the jolt from stubbing his toe ricocheted up his back and caused the C3 vertebra in his neck to break. Priya called an ambulance and paramedics, not realising Paul's neck was broken, ran a few checks and suggested he go to his GP while also giving him pain relief medication. Paul said it took him "two-and-a-half hours" to lie down from standing because he still did not know his neck was broken – prompting him to visit A&E a few days later. After having a series of tests, including an MRI, Paul said his neck was put into a brace, and his doctor informed him his condition was rare. "They told me they think I could have myeloma because it's really unusual for someone to stub their toe and break their neck – that was a real bomb," Paul recalled. A week later, Paul had further blood tests and was diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer that affects the bones. While he described the diagnosis as a "real bomb", Paul said he was "grateful" as his situation was escalated "very quickly". "Myeloma weakens your bones – you wouldn't know you have it unless you do something like break a bone," Paul revealed. "They found something like 28 holes in my spine, so I was lucky that the myeloma was found early on. "You're not making as much bone as you are losing it and if I hadn't had the break, things could have been much worse. You can end up with a collapsed spine because the myeloma eats away at your bones." Myeloma, often called multiple myeloma, is a form of blood cancer that targets the bone marrow and can trigger a vast array of symptoms, according to Blood Cancer UK. The charity states myeloma impacts roughly 6,300 people across the UK annually, and while there's currently no cure, treatment assists in managing the condition and prolonging life. Paul was referred to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and started receiving weekly chemotherapy injections into his stomach in November 2024 for four months. He underwent a stem cell transplant on 10 April this year, which left him temporarily fatigued and "a bit ill". Paul then moved into the maintenance phase of his cancer journey, where he was monitored before being offered the chance to participate in a new drug trial, which he began on 15 September. "I was apprehensive about it as it involved having a bone marrow biopsy, which I'd had before and it's really painful," Paul admitted. However, Paul revealed that the second time around wasn't as painful, and he sought "useful" advice from a Macmillan Cancer Support forum before volunteering for the trial. In September this year, Paul was told there were no cancer cells in his blood, and following a bone marrow biopsy, he received the news on 13 October that he is now in remission. "My oncologist is very positive and there's lots of alternative treatment drugs I can start if the current ones start to lose their efficacy," he shared. "Some people go into remission for years, and it's an exciting time for myeloma in terms of the treatments which are being developed." Paul is now supporting Blood Cancer UK's campaign for greater awareness of the disease. He also praised Maggie's, a charity providing care and support for those affected by cancer, as a valuable resource. "If you're getting bad back pain and you can't put it down to pulling or twisting it, I would go and see your GP," he advised. "You learn a few lessons about yourself with something like this – you don't take your health for granted, you check in with yourself. "I had a lot of small mercies, such as still being able to work, having my family around me and being diagnosed early – some people don't have that."
