A Salford grandmother whose daughter died of liver cancer has called for more support for charities which support the families left behind.
Theresa McDonald, 70, from Salford, lost her daughter Emma, 42, to liver cancer in 2022 and was helped through it by MacMillan Cancer Support nurses.
As well as handling her own grief, she also had to deal with the impact on her grandchildren, and become a mum as well as grandma to them.
Although Theresa still struggles to accept that her daughter “isn’t coming back” she has picked up on her parenting skills again with support from MacMillan.
She said: “When my kids were all grown up and left the house I thought that was me done with being a mum but now I’ve got to relearn how.
“People ask me how many kids I’ve got. They expect me to say two but instead I say seven.”
She said the Macmillan nurses who helped her and her family through the awful process had been “brilliant”.
On the one year anniversary of her daughter’s death, the Macmillan nurses waited outside her home until Theresa invited them in to be sure they were not intruding.
She was one of many supporters who turned out to this week’s Macmillan cancer coffee morning at Oasis Hub MediaCity to raise money for the charity.
Shifat Sara Alam, the community and family project worker for the Oasis Hub, had also lost a relative to cancer and knows how vital help from MacMillan Cancer Support can be for sufferers and their families.
She said: “People with cancer will struggle with everyday life and will be hard for them to get into relationships with the obvious uncertainties around the illness and how your life could change drastically in a matter of moments.”
The four most common cancer types nationally are Lung, Colorectal, Prostate, and Breast with 25 people being diagnosed every week with cancer in Salford. according to NHS figures.
To donate to Macmillan charity click the link here .
Recent Comments