‘We didn’t know the symptoms’ - Kelly Holmes’ mission to spotlight multiple myeloma

Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes is on a mission to raise awareness of multiple myeloma in memory of her late mother. Holmes, who is best known for her iconic 800m and 1500m golds at Athens 2004, lost her mother Pamela to multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, in 2017. The disease affects over 33,000 people in the UK but faces a stark lack of awareness, and in a bid to combat this, Holmes has launched the 'Get Ahead of Multiple Myeloma' campaign in partnership with Johnson & Johnson. "With all blood cancers, but in particular multiple myeloma, there is a lack of awareness of what it is," she said. "It is a treatable but incurable cancer and research showed that 57% of people surveyed had never heard of it. What we're trying to do is build awareness around a cancer that obviously is devastating to lots of families." With her mother’s overall health having always been good and spending much of her career working in hospitals, the diagnosis came as a complete shock to the whole family. Early symptoms of myeloma include fatigue, bone pain and recurring infections, all three of which are vague and can be easily attributed to another cause. This makes the diagnosis of multiple myeloma challenging which is why charity Myeloma UK have developed a Symptom Translator , to help patients articulate their symptoms to their doctor. "The scariest thing was that there were no real signs. We didn’t know the symptoms." said Holmes. "There are symptoms that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with something underlying like multiple myeloma. With my mum, she had been pulled over by the dog a couple of years prior to her diagnosis and then she just kept having back pain, so I was always massaging her back. "It got to the point where I was like, 'This isn't right. You shouldn't be like that'. It was actually a surgeon that she'd become friends with that suggested that she had a few tests and it was through those tests that we found out that she had multiple myeloma." Dr Sophie Castell, Chief Executive at blood cancer charity Myeloma UK, said: “Myeloma is too often missed because the warning signs are misunderstood. We're so grateful to Kelly for working so hard to change that. It means that fewer families will have to go through what she and her mum did. "This survey highlights how vital it is that we continue to raise awareness of the warning signs of myeloma. If you or anyone you know has been dealing with fatigue, pain or has had recurring infections or if something doesn't feel right, please share the Myeloma UK Symptom Translator and get those symptoms checked. Together we will make the warning signs of myeloma impossible to ignore.” Pamela was there throughout Kelly’s entire golden career, and the pair were incredibly close. She passed away from multiple myeloma in 2017 after undertaking chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, and Holmes hopes that her 'Get Ahead of Multiple Myeloma' campaign can now support others. "She was a really strong woman," said Holmes. "She loved walking the dog, she had a laugh, she worked at various hospitals, and she was very proud of my achievements. "I think when you're with people for the most massive part of your life, you just see them as a constant. But then something like this happens and you see that deterioration. It is so upsetting because she was so strong and she always lived with hope. "For me, it's a real personal thing to do this campaign. I want to do it in her memory, but also so other people are able to get that early diagnosis, be supported a lot earlier and not go through the traumatic stages that a lot of patients unfortunately do." Get Ahead of Multiple Myeloma is a campaign led by Dame Kelly Holmes in partnership with Johnson & Johnson. For more information about the warning signs of multiple myeloma, and to find out how you can support Myeloma Awareness Week, visit myeloma.org.uk/warning