Alex was a fit and healthy 29-year-old but just two years after marrying his wife, Elle, his world came crashing down from rare cancer that acts ‘like a spider web’ (national story)
Amy Jones and Jeff Reines
13:05, 03 Aug 2025
Alex thought he just had shoulder pain from the gym at first(Image: Handout)
At the tender age of 29, Alex Able was looking forward to a bright future and planning to start a family with his wife, Elle. Tragically, just two years after their 2021 wedding, Alex received a devastating diagnosis, confirming he had one of the world’s rarest cancers.
Now 30, Alex, an engineer from Kent, and his wife Elle, 27, along with their two cats, Socks and Sage, faced an unexpected challenge. In September 2023, Alex began experiencing shoulder pain but initially dismissed it as a gym injury.
The pain persisted, disrupting his sleep, prompting Alex to insist on an MRI scan. The scan in November 2023 came back clear, offering temporary relief amidst health warnings for tea drinkers.
However, by May 2024, the pain had worsened, leading to another scan which revealed a large tumour on his shoulder, dangerously close to his spinal cord.
Surgeons successfully removed 90% of the tumour, but the remaining 10% was too perilously situated near his spine to be safely extracted. After testing the excised tumour, Alex was hit with a harrowing diagnosis just two weeks later, reports the Mirror.
Alex and Elle on their wedding day(Image: Handout)
“Our world came crashing down around us all,” said Katie Bleach, 44, Alex’s mother-in-law from Kent, who has been liaising with the press on behalf of her daughter Elle and Alex.
Alex was diagnosed with a Rhabdoid tumour – an aggressive and rare form of cancer that typically affects young children. This type of the disease is so uncommon that Katie said there are thought to be around 11 confirmed cases in Europe, with Alex believed to be the first case in the UK.
“They [doctors] explained that Rhabdoid tumours behave like spider webs, fine strands that cling to whatever they can grab. Alex’s was dangerously close to his spinal cord, attached to muscles and nerves controlling his arm movement,” the devastated parent explained.
Four weeks after his initial operation, the tumour had regrown to its original size. He endured intensive radiotherapy, every day for six weeks, in a bid to reduce the mass.
“The radiotherapy caused burns and inflammation to his throat, and he struggled to eat or drink. He was losing weight rapidly, but he kept pushing through,” Katie said.
He then underwent chemotherapy, and against all expectations, “started to build himself back up”. At a halfway scan, small tumours emerged in his lungs, lower back, and shoulder bone, but as chemo progressed by the end of December, the secondary tumours in his lung had halved in size and the patch in his lower back bone had disappeared.
The original tumour on Alex’s shoulder “remained stable” and he, along with Elle, began to plan for a bright future that included an exciting relocation from Kent to Shropshire. After completing his chemotherapy in March 2025, Alex also marked his 30th birthday in the same month, following a period of intense challenges.
Tragically, at the end of April, Alex’s health took a turn for the worse when he started experiencing unusual sensations in his legs and back pain. Within days, his condition worsened, and further tests showed that the tumours in his lungs had reappeared.
Alex was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer that typically affects young children(Image: Handout)
Moreover, new growths emerged in his lower back affecting his mobility, and two small lesions appeared in his brain.
Katie revealed: “Over the coming weeks, difficult decisions were made; they pulled out of their dream home, Wills were drawn up, conversations about his declining mobility and future care were had.”
Alex received radiotherapy for his brain and lower spine and engaged in intensive physiotherapy in hopes of regaining his ability to walk. Chemotherapy was also restarted, but after the first session of his third chemo cycle, Alex awoke to find he could no longer feel his legs.
He suffered sudden paralysis from the chest down, and an MRI scan disclosed two additional growths on his spine, increasing the total number of tumours to seven.
Katie reminisced that before his diagnosis, Alex and Elle, who have been a couple since 2019 and got engaged just nine months into their relationship, “loved travelling, eating out, going on adventures, went out with friends a lot and were film buffs”.
She added: “Their hopes for the future were aligned; they were desperate to move to Shropshire, and both wanted to live in the countryside. They wanted a more outdoorsy life and were thinking of starting a family. Their adventures were only just beginning.”
Speaking about her daughter’s support for her partner, Katie said: “She’s the strongest and the most courageous girl I know. She’s been an absolute tower of strength to Alex, giving him nothing but love and encouragement with a constant belief that they’re going to come through the other end.”
The rarity of Alex’s diagnosis, particularly in adults, has made treatment difficult. On 11 July, the family received the devastating news that his cancer was “now uncontrollable” and his treatment would be stopped.
Katie expressed her heartbreak, saying: “Despite what they might think is best for Alex, they aren’t delivering any actual care; all they’re doing is managing his symptoms.”
She went on to say: “He’s comfortable and well looked after, but his condition in effect is only just getting worse.”
Alex and Elle got married in 2021 and were excited for their future together(Image: Handout)
On Wednesday, 30 July, Katie described it as “the worst day in the last 18 months”. She recounted: “It was a horrific day. Alex was really uncomfortable; he had hardly any sleep the day before, and he woke up saying he was done. We all gathered around him thinking, he looks so ill, this is it, we’ve run out of time.
“I think part of his feeling so low is that he’s fully aware that his cancer is potentially progressing while he’s been lying there. He was starting to lose hope.”
After Alex declared he’d had enough, Katie revealed he was offered the choice to go home or to a hospice. “They essentially asked him where he would like to die,” she added.
Determined not to surrender, the family have spent the past three weeks investigating alternative treatment pathways beyond the NHS and established a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of Alex’s future treatment, including travel and any extra expenses.
Following weeks of investigation and knockbacks, Katie made contact with a Professor in Germany who, whilst unable to personally treat Alex, supplied information about seven treatment possibilities, all presently utilised at Germany’s premier Rhabdoid tumour facility – the University Medical Centre, Augsburg.
Professor Robin Jones from the Royal Marsden has subsequently been in touch to confirm he is prepared to take on Alex’s case through private healthcare. They are now awaiting further information regarding his transfer and what Alex’s treatment programme will entail.
“Alex is absolutely over the moon, and he’s raring to go again. He’s always been so determined and said he’s going to be the one success case and hopefully a pioneer for children with this awful disease,” his mother-in-law said. “We’ve gone from the darkest place to now, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. We’re feeling hopeful again. We will never give up on Alex because he’s so determined to live.”
You can visit Alex’s GoFundMe page here.