WHEN he started throwing up around the same time as his one-year-old daughter, Mathew Rutherford was convinced he’d caught her sickness bug.
But when the 35-year-old’s symptoms became “unbearable”, hospital tests revealed he in fact had leukaemia.
When Mathew fell ill at the same time as his daughter Marnie he presumed he’d caught her bug[/caption]
When his symptoms became too much, his fiancée Laura decided to call an ambulance[/caption]
Mathew’s fiancée, Laura Lineker, 34, also thought he’d picked up the bug from their daughter, Marnie when they both fell ill in June 2025.
And she didn’t think much of it, until he developed a gum infection and had to go on antibiotics.
Laura, a solicitor, from Seaford, East Sussex, said: “The children bring home a lot of bugs from nursery.
“We thought there was just a bug or something.
“It turned out she had a UTI, so we then thought it was strange that they’d been sick at the same time.
“He carried on being sick, and then our daughter got sick again.
“She had an ear infection, so again it wasn’t something that could be passed on.”
When Mathew’s symptoms became too much and he couldn’t get out of bed due to lethargy and leg pain, Laura called an ambulance.
When paramedics arrived, he was told to take paracetamol and go to A&E if he wasn’t feeling better the next day.
At 5am, Laura woke up to find Mathew being sick again and decided to drive him to Eastbourne District General Hospital.
And it was then blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy revealed he had acute myeloid leukaemia – cancer of the white blood cells – as well as sepsis – caused by an abscess.
Laura said she’d pushed Mathew to go to the doctor, but he was a “typical man”.
She continued: “He thought it would be fine once he’d finished his antibiotics and didn’t want to waste the doctors’ time.
“About four days later, the sickness just got unbearable, and he couldn’t get out of bed, so I called an ambulance.
“They kind of put us off going – they said we’d be in A&E for ages and he’d feel better if he just went to bed.”
‘I told the kids daddy was on holiday’
It was early in the morning on July 27 this year that Laura woke to find Mathew vomiting and drove him to hospital.
Recalling receiving his diagnosis, she said: “I was so shocked – completely horrified. We didn’t tell the children for a week – I told them that daddy was on holiday.
“It was only when we realised he’d have to stay there for the foreseeable future that we told them daddy’s poorly and needs to stay at the hospital to get better.
“They’re still very young so they don’t really understand the concept of being ill. They have a doctor kit – when we took them to the hospital my son wore his doctor’s coat and hat so he could help fix daddy.”
On August 7, Mathew started chemotherapy and is being kept in Eastbourne Hospital to avoid infection while he undergoes treatment.
Laura said: “The risk of germs is massive.
For the last three days I’ve not been able to visit him because there’s hand, foot and mouth disease going round the kids’ nursery. If I contract that and take it to him, it will kill him
Mathew Rutherford
“He’s now neutropenic, which means he has no immune system at all.
“Recently I’ve not been able to visit him because there’s hand, foot and mouth disease going round the kids’ nursery.
“If I contract that and take it to him, it will kill him.”
Laura said the situation has been especially hard on their two children, Marnie and Freddie, aged three.
She said: “The children are really struggling.
“Our daughter’s too young to understand, but she knows something’s wrong, so she’s really emotional and clingy.
Blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy revealed Mathew had acute myeloid leukaemia[/caption]
The family have not been able to visit him as he undergoes treatment, in fear of him catching an infection that could kill him[/caption]
The family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover necessities during his treatment[/caption]
“Our son is older – he’s asking why daddy can’t come home, and is waking up in the night asking for him.
“He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him – I’ve just had to say daddy’s poorly and the doctors are going to make him better.
“We play doctors at home to try to make it less scary for them.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family cover necessities through the disruption to their work.
What is Acute Myeloid Leukaemia?
ACUTE myeloid leukaemia is a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system’s white blood cells.
The causes of the disease are not well understood and it usually cannot be prevented. Previous chemotherapy, exposure to radiation or smoking could raise the risk.
It is a rare type of cancer and affects around 3,100 people each year in the UK, and 2,700 people die from it annually.
AML is an aggressive form of cancer and often needs urgent treatment with chemotherapy and possibly a bone marrow transplant.
On average only about a third of patients survive for one year or more after being diagnosed.
Symptoms of the disease include:
- Paleness
- Concerning tiredness or weakness
- Often feeling breathless for no reason
- Getting regular infections
- Unexplained weight loss
- Unexplained bleeding and/or bruising
Source: NHS