THE DAUGHTERS of an “incredibly selfless” mother are desperate to create more memories with her following a devastating cancer diagnosis.
Lynne French, 63, a nurse of 40 years, was diagnosed with lung cancer in January last year.
The former palliative care worker underwent immunotherapy, but more than 18 months after her diagnosis, the treatment is no longer effective, with Lynne scheduled for intensive chemotherapy this summer.
Following the news, Lynne’s daughters – Amy, 36, and Ruth, 31 – created a fundraising page online for friends and family to make donations so that the family can create more memories for the much-loved mother and grandmother.
Amy told the Echo: “My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer last year almost by accident. She was having a scan on her heart, but it was picked up that she had a large tumour, which really threw our family into complete turmoil.
“My mum is quite a private person, so when I first suggested to her about the idea of setting up a fundraising page she said, ‘oh no don’t worry, there’s more people in need than me out there.’
“She’s just so incredibly selfless and I know everyone around her looks up to her a great deal. She hasn’t worked since she was diagnosed but she was a nurse for 40 years and actually ended up working in palliative care, so she understands what it means to be able to care for people.
“She’s always putting other people first and hasn’t got a bad bone in her body, so we want to make as many new memories as possible.”
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Only three days since the fundraiser was created, over £1,200 has been raised for the Gosport mother-of-two.
Amy, who’s a secondary school teacher, added: “So far, we’ve literally just had friends and family donate, so it’s been amazing for everyone to come together and show their support. As I said, everybody that knows mum just thinks the world of her. I know I’m biased because I’m her daughter but it’s the truth.
“Until now cancer isn’t something that’s affected me, but I know it’ something that’s affected many of the students I teach, so since mum’s diagnosis I’ve set up a programme at school that supports students who are going through a similar thing in their home life, and we raise money for charity with cake sales and things like that.”
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