Below, he shares his ‘wheel’ story to help others feel less alone.
When I was in primary school, I was a sporty child. I was on the football team, part of the after-school cross country club, and a huge fan of basketball.
One day, when I was playing football in the playground, the ball went under a bench. On the way down to the floor, I ended up grazing my shin against the wood.
I was in excruciating pain.
A few weeks later, on 6th June 2010, I attended my first ever concert - Green Day were playing in Manchester. I was stood outside with my parents waiting for the concert to begin, and I was in complete agony.
At the time, none of us knew what was going on.
23rd June 2010 was my school sports day. During the hurdle relay, I misjudged one of the jumps and smacked my "bad leg." This was the same shin that I hit on the bench.
There I was, on the ground, cradling my bad leg crying my eyes out.
Later that day, I was playing basketball in the garden with my dad. During the game, his flip flop grazed my right shin. I was in agony once again, screaming in pain.
My parents checked my leg over and while everything looked okay, the extreme pain continued. There wasn't even a bruise on my leg to suggest that I'd hurt it earlier in the day.
It was only when I turned to the side that things became more sinister.
My leg was arched slightly on the tibia (shinbone). When my mum touched it, I screamed loudly. As the tears rolled down my cheek, my parents decided to take me to the A&E department of our local hospital.
I still remember how scared and frightened I felt in the x-ray room.
It wasn't long before we were called to see the consultant, where x-rays on the screen showed multiple tumours in my leg. The doctors thought I was suffering from fibrous dysplasia — a benign (non-cancerous) bone disease.
I wasn't to play sports again, couldn't weight bear on my right leg, and became wheelchair bound. We were also told that my leg was extremely fragile, and I would need to take extreme care to stop it being damaged.
The doctor asked if I had experienced any pain in my leg prior to the basketball incident. My mum explained that, in my little red book, there was a pattern of pain from when I was a toddler to a then 8-year-old.
It was always put down to growing pains.
I was referred to another local hospital for an emergency consultation, which was booked for the next day.
At the hospital, doctors carried out an MRI scan on my leg, along with biopsies on the tumours in my right shinbone. The tests showed that I was suffering from osteofibrous dysplasia.
Months later, we were brought back to the hospital and I was also diagnosed with adamantinoma. When I was officially diagnosed with bone cancer, doctors carried out additional scans to make sure the adamantinoma wasn't in any other part of my body.
Once doctors established it was confined to my right tibia (shinbone) only, a specialist was called from Birmingham to Bristol to assess my case. He wanted to do one of two surgeries - the first being to take my tibia out and send it off for radiation treatment before being returned to my leg. The second was to remove the tibia and replace it with my left leg's fibula (calf bone).
The first option had a high risk of infection, and the second only a twenty per cent success rate.
My family and I declined these options and I was being prepared for amputation for years. This took a huge toll on me mentally and was delayed due to my mental health.
I was only 10 years old and had to decide (with my parents) whether to keep my own leg or not.
We were discouraged to go through with amputation whilst I was young. Although surgery was continually pushed back, I was being monitored every month in the beginning, then every three, and now every six.
When I was 14 years old, I broke my "bad leg". I was out in the garden with my best friend at the time. Like most kids, I saw his trampoline in the garden and wanted a go, big mistake.
I took one bounce on it, and the impact snapped my tibia in two.
Paramedics were called and had to maneuver a stretcher beneath my body on the still bouncy trampoline. No easy feat, but they managed it! After an x-ray and examination, I was plastered up.
Back home, I was in extreme agony. My mum called my new specialist in Southampton and told him what happened. He booked me in for an emergency appointment, and the day after I went to see him for manipulation surgery to put the bone back together for natural healing inside a plaster cast.
I was told I would never walk again and my leg would take 18 months minimum to heal. It actually took 28.
I was in a wheelchair for a long time and couldn't return to school. Eventually, I recovered with nerve damage in my lower right leg. It involved lots of physiotherapy, but I got there in the end. I continued to study at home, taking my GCSEs and over 15 diplomas.
Due to the fragility of my shinbone, I wear a plaster cast 24/7. I've been wearing one for over 14 years now, and I wouldn't be able to safely leave the house without it.
In the first few years of my medical journey, I was visiting the plaster room at Yeovil Hospital every 6-8 weeks for a new cast as I was outgrowing them so quickly. Every time we visited, it was like seeing one of my uncles. We shared so much of our lives with Derrick and the team.
After my leg break and recovery, my doctor in Southampton moved abroad, so he transferred my care to a fellow specialist in Oxford. I'm now under adult care in Oxford and my surgery is being reviewed every year too.
Awareness is important because people with disabilities and other long-term conditions need to know there's others out there that understand them and go through similar experiences.
Living with cancer has shown me firsthand the challenges with stigma, inclusion, accessibility and daily life.
I forever wanted to help people in my younger shoes, and now I can!
As Lewis' story continues, he documents his journey on social media via his channel Lets Be Wheel. You can find him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Donate now (This link opens in a new window) More about Adamantinoma