My late daughter thought her fatal cancer symptoms were childbirth issues

A mother died after dismissing cancer symptoms as postnatal problems when she gave birth to twins.

Charity fundraiser Laura Stephenson, 36, thought her body was adjusting when she felt unwell, until hospital scans revealed stage four bowel cancer.

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The mother of three daughters was diagnosed with the terminal illness in 2018, twelve months after giving birth, and died in December 2019.

Dad Mike Barnes, from Preston, Lancashire, said: “She called me while she was in the car on the way home from hospital to tell her mother the news.

“I was doing volunteer work in Malawi at the time. She told me she wanted to see her girls grow up and get married, and when you're so far away, all you can say is, “You want.”

“She just went and lived a full life.

“She refused to let that stop her from doing anything. She insisted on picking up her daughters from school every day.

“Cancer wouldn't stop her from being a mother, it wouldn't disrupt her relationships with the people around her, and it wouldn't stop her from working and helping others.

“I know I'm biased, but she was such a wonderful person.

“Everyone who met her fell in love with her.”

Laura documented her cancer journey in blog posts that Mike compiled into a book titled Nobody Said It Would Be Easy.

She wrote in an excerpt: “We have the freedom to choose how we approach something.

“Getting that freedom is something I wouldn't trade for anything. I will choose faith over fear, hope over worry and faith over doubt every time.”

Mike told me LancashireLive the book gives Laura's daughters something tangible to hold on to and preserve their mother's words.

Her eldest daughter, now eight, had commented that she could not remember Laura's voice.

Mike added: “My whole family talk freely about Laura and we are very open about everything.

“Talking about how sweet she was brings back her memories.”

He will run the London Marathon for Bowel Cancer UK in October in memory of Laura.

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