'Fun and brilliant' mum, 40, died from cancer so rare nurses had never even heard of it
19.03.2023 - 16:09
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A brave mum died from a cancer so rare that some of the nurses had never even heard of it.
Lesley Turner was just 40 when she died on July 22 last year, having been diagnosed with rare cancer angiosarcoma in November 2021 after finding a lump in her breast. The mum-of-one asked doctors not to tell her how much time she had left when doctors told her the cancer was 'incurable'.
Now her husband, Rob, is planning to honour her dying wish by raising money for the hospice that cared for her, reports YorkshireLive. During trips to Sheffield's Northern General and Weston Park hospitals, the couple realised the cancer was so rare that some of the nurses had never even heard of it.
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Rob, 41, said: "We knew pretty quickly that it was serious. However Lesley, just smiled and said, 'I'm still here.' She had chemotherapy for about four months but she always had a smile on her face and said 'if you don't laugh, you'll cry' - so we tried to just get on with it."
Mum-of-one Lesley spent the last five days of her life at St Luke's Hospice and made Rob 'promise' if he did any fundraising, he would do it for the hospice. Rob said: "They took really good care - not only of Lesley but all the visitors including me. They gave me a bed and fed and watered me - they took really good care of everybody."
Rob and Lesley, who have a son together - eight-year-old Liam - met in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2007. Rob was fitting out an Iceland store where Lesley - originally from Stranraer - was the store manager, and the pair began to hit it off.
After finishing the job and before heading back to Sheffield, smitten Rob left his