Young dad, 23, died after visit to opticians with blurry vision led to devastating diagnosis

A young dad has died aged 23 after a visit to the optician revealed a devastating cancer diagnosis. James Burrows was only 20-years-old when he was told he had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2019.

For the last three years, the dad-of-one has been in out and of the Christie Hospital in Manchester and has undergone various courses of chemotherapy, as doctors battled to save him. Tragically James, from Blackburn, who is father to six-year-old son Leon, passed away in early June surrounded by his family at home, Lancs Live reports.

Speaking of her brother's heartbreaking illness, his sister Amanda Catterall said James had first began noticing bruises on his legs, before suffering with blurry vision in the months before his diagnosis.

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"James started getting rashes and bruises on his legs, which we later found out were due to the low platelets but we thought it was just him knocking himself on a night out or something," she said.

"He also got blurry vision, so went to the opticians who said he had some blood clots behind his eyes. He went to his GP who said he needed blood tests, but with his age, this wasn't done for another few days before our mum actually physically took him for them.

"After the tests, an ambulance arrived for James after finding out his blood count was dangerously low and he was blue-lighted to the specialist unit in Blackpool hospital. We think they were thinking leukaemia as early as that but couldn't be sure."

James was treated at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, which Amanda describes as "his best shot at treatment." The young dad underwent intense chemotherapy treatment in the form of IVs and oral administration.

During this first