Man finally took work crush on a date. Then, the hospital called one of them about a cancer diagnosis

Two colleagues who had quietly admired each other finally went on their long-awaited first date, but the evening took a shocking turn with a life-changing diagnosis. Chloe and Josh Jackson, from Doncaster, first crossed paths while working at a construction company in early 2021, according to Mirror. Their bond grew over shared interests and easy conversations. Josh, 30, a licensed pilot, captivated Chloe, 26, who dreamed of joining the RAF. By June of that year, after months of building their connection, Josh asked Chloe on their first date.

However, as the day approached, Josh started feeling unwell. It wasn’t something he expected to interfere with their date, but he was struggling with fatigue, night sweats and some bruising. "I’d recently moved house and it had a hot tub in the garden. I thought I’d developed an infection from the hot tub," Josh explained. As the day went on, his symptoms worsened. "I’d woken up drenched with sweat. It actually looked like I’d wet the bed, it was that bad." Concerned, Josh contacted his GP, who instructed him to get blood tests immediately.

Despite his worsening condition, Josh didn’t want to cancel their date. However, just as they started their evening, his phone rang—it was the hospital, requesting that he come in immediately. "They asked me to come in straight away and Chloe said she would come with me.” What Josh thought was a routine call turned out to be anything but. When he arrived at the hospital, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. "I never expected it to be leukemia and neither did Chloe," Josh said. "It was a real shock and so hard to take in." Chloe was blindsided by the diagnosis. “Josh was one of the healthiest people I’d met. He never drank, smoked or did anything considered to be a risk factor for cancer."

Despite the shock, Chloe knew she wanted to stay by his side. “I knew that it would be a hard journey. I’d only just met Josh and when you are only a few weeks down the line, it's a big choice to make. But we had already fallen in love, even in that short time." Just days after their first date, Josh developed sepsis, which is often life-threatening. He managed to recover, but it wasn’t long before he began chemotherapy. Chloe went with him to every treatment session. "We tried to make it as fun as possible. We would dance around to the beep of the machines, being silly and trying to make light of it." However, just 21 days into his chemotherapy, Josh’s condition worsened. His bone marrow failed, and doctors informed him that he would need a stem cell transplant to survive.

His brother, Joe, was tested and turned out to be a 100% match. Josh underwent the transplant in October 2021. At first, the transplant was successful, but Josh developed graft-versus-host disease, which occurs when the donated bone marrow attacks the body’s cells. Chloe stayed by his side through all of it, and when Josh was recovering, he decided to propose to her. "He couldn’t properly get down on one knee, as the chemotherapy had damaged the bone and caused bone loss in his knee and it was painful for him, but he managed to kneel on the sofa where I was sitting, and asked me to marry him." The couple married in August 2023 at Danby Castle in Whitby, surrounded by loved ones who supported them through their journey.