I suddenly fell ill on the London Underground - I had no idea I was dying

A former professional athlete is fighting an incurable stage four cancer, after first noticing symptoms while travelling on the London Underground. Will Wise, 32, had just retired from a seven-year career in professional basketball and started a new job in recruitment when he began to feel unwell.

On the day in question, the towering 6ft 8ins sportsman had been to the gym for his usual workout and run before heading off to work. However, what followed was a nightmarish journey on the Tube.

This would ultimately lead to a diagnosis of stage four thyroid cancer, along with a separate malignant tumour in his adrenal gland. He remembered the "scary" day that changed his life forever on November 28, 2022, and the three telltale signs that suddenly appeared.

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Sweating

Will, originally from Philadelphia in the US but now living in London, recalled: "I was running a little late and when I got on the tube I was sweating really bad and I just thought it was because I was running late. I had just worked out so I wasn't really thinking too much of it other than it was really hot on the Tube as it always is."

Cancer Research UK confirms that excessive sweating is indeed a warning sign of the disease. The charity notes that individuals in advanced stages of any type of cancer, like Will, are more prone to severe perspiration, reports Wales Online.

Intense headache

As his journey unfolded, Will's health took a drastic turn for the worse. He recalled: "I started getting sensitive to the light. I started getting this pulsing headache and I had to sit down. I remember the light messing with my eyes and me feeling uncomfortable."

Will managed to get off at Oxford Circus before finally making it to his Soho workplace. Before using the lift, he took a moment to compose himself, sensing that something was amiss.

Macmillan warns that headaches can sometimes be an early sign of cancer. They advise seeing your GP, especially if you experience Will's subsequent symptom.

Being sick

While on the stairs, he felt extremely ill. He revealed: "I started to vomit and it was discoloured and greenish. I didn't have anything green to eat. At this time my shirt is soaked, I went from being a little bit sweaty to literally looking as if I had jumped in a pool and I was throwing up."

Concerned, Will sent a text to a workmate asking for help, and said they initially thought he was hungover after a night out. Upon reaching his floor, he took a shower to cool down before lying down on the communal area sofa.

He said: "I then started to throw up blood, like speckled blood. Then the speckled blood turned into full blood. Imagine having the hiccups and every time you hiccup you throw up blood. It was really scary."

When thyroid cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it can cause additional symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, according to Moffitt Cancer Centre.

Medical assessment

Will was rushed to hospital after collapsing. He was then told that his heart, liver, kidneys and lungs were all failing simultaneously. "I hadn't presented any symptoms prior so it was a little bit shocking," he admitted.

After being put on a ventilator, doctors managed to stabilise him. They later informed Will that he had an 8cm tumour in his left adrenal gland, known as pheochromocytoma.

This condition often causes headaches, excessive sweating and vomiting. After a six-week stay in hospital, in January 2023, Will received the heartbreaking news that he had stage four medullary thyroid cancer.

Recalling the moment, he said: "It was very scary in the sense that... the actual moment of them telling me I had stage four cancer felt surreal. I was with my partner at the time and we were just sitting there looking at each other and we both made a joke, like, 'oh I guess we gotta go out tonight', just trying to release the pressure and tension."

To date, Will has undergone three rounds of surgery to remove tumours from his adrenal gland, thyroid and parathyroid, along with 65 lymph nodes. While a cure is not possible, treatment can enhance survival rates and improve his quality of life.

Following his diagnosis, the eternally optimistic Will chose to challenge conventional thinking about cancer. To help with this mission, he launched a charity called CancerBae, designed to support others while transforming how people view the illness.

Explaining the charity, he said: "It is a new age charity based on changing the stigma associated with cancer. We do that through unique fundraising events that give a different look to what living with cancer looks like.

"Most people hear the word cancer and think of chemo, think of pain, think of trauma, think of sadness, think of darkness, think of loneliness. But we are on a mission to help change that because I'm a believer in you are your energy, you are what you put out, you are your thoughts, so if you are constantly thinking about dark things while you are going through these dark times, it is only going to get darker.

"So we are just trying to vibrant it up and, you know, uniquely position ourselves in that whole cancer charity spectrum as a disruptor, someone who looks, feels and talks differently."