Aussie hairdresser Alexander, 37, blamed his strange symptoms on a ‘bulging disc’ – then he lost feeling in his legs on a holiday and his life was turned upside down

An active 37-year-old who thought he was suffering from a bulging disc discovered a 9cm tumour was crushing his spinal cord when he lost feeling in the lower half of his body during a trip to Europe.

Just weeks earlier, Gold Coast hairdresser Alexander Telford had been working up to 14 hours a day on his feet and had no history of serious health problems.

When back pain, muscle spasms and numbness began creeping into his legs, scans appeared to offer a relatively ordinary explanation: a bulging disc.

Alexander had a CT scan and X-ray on 14 July before flying to Europe and was prescribed pain medication. He was told the disc could be putting pressure on a nerve, while numbness in his feet could also be a side effect of his medication.

He tried every remedy he could think of to ease the discomfort before leaving Australia, including physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment and acupuncture.

‘I developed this terrible pain after we landed, and it made me feel so vulnerable and scared,’ Alexander told the Daily Mail.

The pain beneath his shoulder blades became chronic, with intense muscle spasms radiating across the right side of his rib cage. His legs became progressively weaker, his walking deteriorated, and at one point he fell, unable to get himself over a kerb.

Alexander eventually went to an emergency department in Barcelona, where he was kept overnight and given steroids. 

The medication temporarily improved his strength and mobility, and doctors planned an MRI for two weeks later. 

But because his condition had not been classified as an emergency and he was feeling stronger, Alexander decided to continue the journey and rest.

He and his partner Blanco had an intensely personal reason for wanting to keep going: it was right after celebrating their first anniversary and the first time they were going to meet each other’s families.

Blanco had not seen his family in four years and planned to surprise his mother for her 70th birthday. Afterwards, they planned to travel to Edinburgh so he could finally meet Alexander’s family, including his nana, whose 80th birthday he had recently missed.

‘It felt like we were bringing our two worlds together,’ Alexander said.

Instead, the trip became the beginning of a cancer battle that has left Alexander unable to walk independently and his partner acting as his full-time carer.

Alexander’s sudden decline overseas

By the time Alexander reached Soria in Spain, his condition was deteriorating rapidly. The man who had spent more than two decades working long days on his feet as a colour and hair extension specialist was suddenly struggling to move his own legs.

‘I think you just expect your legs are going to carry you forever, but I was having to actually put my hands under my knees to lift up my legs to get them in the car, to get them in the wheelchair.’

Over the following two days, the pain became increasingly severe until Alexander lost mobility in the lower half of his body. An ambulance rushed him to hospital, where doctors ordered an urgent MRI. This time, the cause was unmistakable.

Doctors discovered a 9cm tumour on his spine that was severely compressing his spinal cord.

‘I’ve never had any health issues, I’ve always been super, super healthy. I was so scared – I had no idea what it was,’ Alexander said.

He was transferred the following day for emergency spinal surgery, where surgeons removed about 3cm of the tumour and shaved away part of the surrounding bone to relieve pressure on his spinal cord.

The procedure restored some movement to Alexander’s legs, but he remained unable to walk more than a couple of steps or stand without a frame.

The holiday became weeks in hospital

Alexander spent three weeks in Spain, but only four days of the trip were outside the hospital.

‘What was meant to be celebrating our anniversary, birthdays and our families became hospitals, scans, transfers and eventually emergency spinal surgery,’ he said.

‘What I never imagined was that the first time I would meet Blanco’s family, I would be in a wheelchair.’

For Alexander, who had always considered himself fiercely independent, the experience was deeply confronting. He had imagined meeting his partner’s family dressed up, laughing and worrying about making a good first impression. 

Instead, he arrived frightened, unable to understand why his body was failing him.

The couple never made it to Scotland. Despite travelling more than 23 hours from Australia and coming within hours of reaching Alexander’s family, his condition had become too serious to continue.

‘Suddenly it wasn’t about our anniversary, the holiday or getting to Scotland anymore. It became about whether I was going to be able to stand and walk again,’ he said.

Once doctors determined he was medically fit to fly, Alexander’s travel insurance arranged for him to be repatriated to Australia, where he was taken directly from his flight to the Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney.

Further testing revealed the cancer extended beyond the original spinal tumour and had spread to his left hip, liver, spleen and spine. 

He is still awaiting full staging results but said doctors have told him he has an aggressive high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and his oncologists believe the tumour may have been growing for about six months.

Most frighteningly, Alexander said a repeat MRI in Sydney showed how rapidly the spinal mass was growing. After surgeons removed approximately 3cm in Spain, he said it had returned to around 9cm within two weeks.

Loss of independence and a world turned upside down

Alexander began chemotherapy on 12 August and expects treatment to continue for between three and five months, potentially followed by radiotherapy targeting his spine.

But alongside treating the cancer, doctors are deeply concerned about the damage caused by prolonged compression of his spinal cord.

Alexander currently cannot stand or walk independently and has been deemed unsafe to return home because of his risk of falling.

‘My legs have no awareness of space or time. I think I’m moving it one way and it goes another way. I don’t know if they’re moving my toes up or down when I close my eyes,’ he said.

His life now revolves around chemotherapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation in the hope of recovering as much mobility as possible.

The sudden loss of independence has been difficult to comprehend.

‘I went from working on my feet, being completely independent and living a normal life to needing help to stand, shower, dress and do basic things I never once thought about,’ he said.

‘Blanco has cared for me in ways I never imagined my partner would ever have to. 

‘He has pushed my wheelchair, helped me wash and dress, advocated for me, sat through appointments and held me together during moments when I genuinely didn’t know how I was going to cope.’

When permitted, Blanco slept beside him in hospital and spent his days by his side.

The situation has also left both of them unable to work. Alexander is medically unfit to return to his job, while Blanco has exhausted his leave caring for him.

The couple, who moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast in December, have now returned to Sydney to be closer to a support network and have started a GoFundMe as they face an uncertain period without their usual incomes.

‘My biggest dream is simple’

For Alexander, accepting that level of help has been one of the most confronting parts of the diagnosis.

‘I’ve always been independent. Suddenly having to depend on other people physically, emotionally and now financially has been incredibly humbling.’

He is also trying not to look too far ahead. Doctors cannot yet tell him how much mobility he will regain, and treatment and rehabilitation will determine what the coming months look like.

‘I can’t really think any more than day by day right now. That’s why it’s been so tough for us, because I just have to take one day at a time.’

The life Alexander knew only weeks ago – standing behind a salon chair, working long days and travelling independently – suddenly feels very far away.

There is grief for the trip he and Blanco never got to finish and for the independence he lost with almost no warning, but also gratitude that doctors eventually discovered what was happening to him.

‘I’m grateful I’m here. I’m grateful the tumour was eventually found. I’m grateful I received the surgery I needed. I’m grateful for every tiny bit of progress my body makes. And more than anything, I’m grateful for Blanco.’

Alexander now has one goal that would once have seemed too ordinary to call a dream.

‘My biggest dream at this point is incredibly simple: I want to walk again,’ he said.

‘And when I do, I want Blanco and me to finally take that trip to Scotland, walk through the door together, hug my nana and my family, and finish the journey we started.’