A REDDITCH mum living with incurable cancer has vowed to turn every moment with her six-year-old daughter into a special memory for the future.
Rock-climbing enthusiast Rebecca Davis, who has never smoked, was devastated when she was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 34.
She is now battling against the clock to make special memories with her six-year-old daughter Alexa, so that her child will always remember her.
Becky has decided to share her heart-breaking story as Cancer Research UK launches a new campaign to help save more lives as the charity fights back from the impact of the pandemic.
The 35-year-old, who is furloughed from her job as an office administrator in Redditch, was diagnosed in August last year with non small cell lung cancer after developing a persistent cough that wouldn’t go away.
Initially thought to have pneumonia, Becky was treated with antibiotics which failed to help. She was eventually discovered to have a tumour in her right lung that had already spread to her left lung and lymph nodes.
She was then given the devastating news that her cancer was inoperable, but that treatment could prolong her life.
Becky said: “I have been very unlucky. To get lung cancer when you don’t even smoke is very hard. My little girl Lexi is going to lose her mum, and that is heart-breaking.
“But you can either give up and stay in bed, or you can get up and make the most of it. I’m doing my utmost to make as many happy memories with my daughter as I can. I want her to remember me.”
Despite being ill, Becky took part in her own Race for Life at Home last year by joining friends in Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park and raising money for Cancer Research UK. She is urging others to follow her lead and get fundraising. People can get involved via www.cancerresearchuk.org.
She is filling their time with fun activities like baking, painting, trampolining and dancing. She is also working her way through over 700 photos to create a bespoke memory album for Lexi.
Becky added: “At the moment I can deal with everything because I have an okay quality of life, but of course I am worried about what my life will become, and I’m trying to make plans for that.
“Mum and dad live around the corner so they are incredibly supportive, and I’m about to move into a bungalow which will be better suited to my future needs.
“Lexi just knows that mummy is going to go to heaven one day, but what does that mean to a six-year old? She just thinks heaven is a place. I can’t stress enough how much every day with Lexi matters to me and how grateful I am for every drug that helps me be with her for longer.”
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