Expectant dad put tiredness down to stress - an eye test showed the truth

In the summer of 2020, the country was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and Michael Rose was expecting his first child.

So, when he lost two and a half stone and had trouble staying awake past 9pm, he put it down to the stresses of preparing for a baby and the uncertainty of life at that time.

Later that year during a family holiday, the then 29-year-old began experiencing blurred vision and booked himself in for an opticians appointment as soon as he arrived back to his home in Sale.

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He assumed he'd be told he needed glasses, but instead Michael was told he had a clot behind his eye, and was referred for some blood tests for possible diabetes.

Less than 24 hours later he received a call from his doctor, who asked the dad-of-one if he was sitting down, before giving him the devastating news he had chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

Two years on Michael now has his condition under control and is urging other people - particularly men - not to ignore warning signs and to get checked out if they notice changes to their body.

"I wasn't aware of the classic signs and symptoms of leukaemia to begin with, so it's difficult to look back on that time and differentiate between what were symptoms of leukaemia and the stresses of everyday life," he said.

"I think I lost about two and a half stone just before my daughter was born and I put that down to the usual kind of stresses of preparing for a baby. I was only 29 at the time and all the other bits and pieces that were going on with Covid and everything else in 2020 meant I didn’t really think twice.

"I then started to get very tired. I even used to go to bed every night around 9 pm because