Caitlin Leggett Legacy

Caitlin was a bright, considerate and kind woman whose maturity extended far beyond her young age. She had the strength to be both fiercely independent and brave in the face of adversity and also was warm, empathetic and supportive to those in need. Caitlin excelled in academics, sports and music and was regarded as a person of outstanding character from all who met her. When meeting Caitlin, her confidence and wit in social settings left a lasting impression as did her distinctive laugh which never failed to light up the room.

At the age of 22, Caitlin was diagnosed with an aggressive Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Following several rounds of chemotherapy and a medical trial, Caitlin was able to undergo a stem cell transplant in December 2025, from an anonymous donor. As part of the donor search Caitlin discovered that her twin sister, Grace, was in fact her identical twin. Devastatingly, a bone marrow biopsy in May 2026 showed that the AML had returned and Caitlin was given a 6 month life expectancy.

Her twin sister Grace, older brother Ethan and younger sister Neve, together with family started a fundraising campaign. Its aim was to raise the funds for Caitlin to receive treatment overseas in order to improve her prognosis. But, on Saturday June 13, Caitlin experienced a sudden, serious brain bleed, followed by a series of strokes, and her health rapidly declined. On the 15th June Caitlin peacefully died in the TCT ward of the Heath hospital aged 24; surrounded by family and friends.

The ‘Saving Caitlin’ campaign in June 2026 raised £127,722 within the first 14 days and gave Caitlin significant hope in her final two weeks. Her family donated the fund to two charities. £50,000 was donated to Leukaemia UK to fund a postdoctoral researcher to carry out experimental work for a year. The project selected by Caitlin’s twin sister, Grace, was a John Goldman Fellowship Follow-Up Fund grant to Dr Samanta Mariani, University of Edinburgh. This research focuses on new therapeutic targets for treatment-resistant acute myeloid leukaemia. It aims to prevent post-transplant relapse by targeting two overexpressed receptors on the surface of high-risk AML cells. These receptors are a double act, if one is disrupted during treatment the other acts as a backup to enable the AML cells to anchor and grow in the bone marrow even after toxic chemotherapy and radiation. This research hopes to produce a greater understanding of how these receptors drive treatment resistance and disease progression, particularly for difficult-to-treat AML cases.

Future fundraising, in memory of Caitlin, will continue to be through this page; directly to Leukaemia UK. We are extremely grateful for your generosity and continued support.

The Leggett Family