Banbury woman helping to raise leukaemia awareness

Edita Jucaite, 36, had a lip filler injection last April, which caused swelling and severe bruising.

This prompted her to contact her GP, who conducted a blood test. Just hours later, she was informed she had chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

Ms Jucaite is now in remission but will be on lifelong medication to prevent the cancer from returning.

Edita Jucaite suffered bruising and swelling after getting a lip filler injection (Image: Leukaemia Care) She said: "Not many people can say that lip fillers saved their life - but I can.

"If the bruising hadn’t happened and I hadn’t been encouraged to see the GP because of it, then I may well have put it off again and again, which could have then meant the leukaemia may have progressed and been much harder to treat."

Ms Jucaite is supporting Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK during Blood Cancer Awareness Month, which is in September.

The two charities have released new findings from a YouGov poll of 2,000 UK adults, which found less than 14 per cent of the UK adult population are able to identify all the four main symptoms of the deadly blood cancer.

These are unusual bruising, unusual bleeding, fatigue, and repeated infections.

She added: “I had no idea about the signs and symptoms of leukaemia - I was happy to be losing a bit of weight as I was about to go on holiday and I drank a lot of energy drinks which may have disguised my tiredness.

"There definitely needs to be more general awareness of leukaemia and what to look out for so more people can be diagnosed in time for treatment to be effective, like I was.”

The organisations say this is contributing to more than a third of those diagnosed finding out at A&E.

Edita Jucaite (Image: Leukaemia Care) Throughout the UK, there are around 10,000 people diagnosed with leukaemia every year, and almost 5,000 deaths.

Annually, 37 per cent of those diagnosed with leukaemia receive this news in A&E – more than any other cancer type.

Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK have joined forces for their annual Spot Leukaemia campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of this type of blood cancer.

They are urging anyone experiencing any or a combination of the four most common symptoms to request a full blood count from their GP.

Fiona Hazell, CEO of Leukaemia UK, said: "We’re so grateful to Edita for supporting our Spot Leukaemia campaign.

"Her harrowing experiences, alongside the new data we have, highlight the real and urgent need to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of leukaemia."