A Salford man who has had blood cancer twice is recovering well and enjoying life after receiving a life-saving stem cell transplant at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist cancer centre in Manchester.
The donor was his younger brother, who flew from New York to donate. There was only a 1-in-4 chance that he would be a match.
John Blackston, 46 and a dad-of-3 from Worsley, was diagnosed with mixed phenotype acute leukaemia (MPAL) in November 2022. MPAL is a rare blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and accounts for less than 5 percent of all leukaemia cases.
John, who married his partner Samantha in 2024, first realised something was seriously wrong after collapsing at home.
“My daughter found me at the top of the stairs and my wife rushed me to hospital,” John said. “They did some blood tests and told me I was only a couple of days away from not being here. I had sepsis as well, so it wasn’t good.”
After several rounds of chemotherapy, John then received a stem cell transplant at The Christie in April 2023. The donor was a 21-year-old from Israel who was a perfect match.
Stem cell transplants are used to treat some blood cancers. The treatment replaces damaged cells with healthy donor stem cells, allowing the body to produce normal blood cells again.
The transplant was initially successful, and John returned home in May 2023.
But just over 2 years later, in July 2025, he began to feel uncomfortable while out running and suspected something wasn’t right.
“I’d been doing a 10-mile run and just felt unusually out of breath,” John said. “I went to my GP to get a blood test. A few days later, The Christie rang me to say the leukaemia was back.”
John immediately called his younger brother David, 42, who lives in New York with his wife and two children.
David had previously been identified as a suitable donor, which is around a 1-in-4 chance for siblings, but was unable to donate at the time because of anaemia. Wanting to be ready if another opportunity came up, he had been working on getting his health in order, including having iron infusions to raise his iron levels.
After a new round of tests, it was confirmed that David was able to donate. In October, he travelled from the United States to Manchester for the procedure at The Christie.
The night before the transplant, the brothers spent the evening together sharing a pizza in John’s room.
“It was quite a strange moment,” John said. “Obviously we’re close anyway, but when your brother is about to save your life, it’s a different type of bond.”
The next day David’s stem cells were collected during a procedure that took around 6 hours.
“When I saw the stem cells coming out in the bag, and then the day after watched them give them to John, I didn’t really know how to react,” David said.
“It was like an out of body experience. Seeing my brother have millions of my cells put into his body. Not many people get to witness that.”
David said the whole process was straightforward.
“You have a few days of injections into the tummy beforehand, but that’s about it,” he added. “It was much easier than I expected. I know it’s serious stuff, but the personality of the staff put us at ease. I take my hat off to them.”
John is now recovering well after the transplant. His latest results show that 99.5% of the cells in his blood are from his brother’s donation.
Reflecting on the experience, John says his diagnosis and treatment has changed the way he looks at life. “You’re not a statistic and everyone is different, but I feel like being strong-minded has helped.”
It has also encouraged John to think about supporting others in the future.
Growing up, John’s family raised over £500,000 for services in Manchester through ‘Leukas Aid’, a charity set up by his mum after a close family friend was diagnosed with leukaemia.
The funding helped to develop the specialist leukaemia ward at Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Having been part of those efforts as a child, and spurred on by his own experience, John now hopes to give back again.
“It’s strange how things come full circle,” he said. “If I can help raise awareness or support research into this rare leukaemia, that’s something I’d really like to do.”
John concludes: “I’m feeling good and getting back to normal. I’ve been out running again, doing some boxing classes, and just taking things day by day. I know how lucky I am.”