Bolton: Daughter’s heartbreak of losing mum to cancer

Hannah Ainsworth’s mum Julie, 52, from Westhoughton, was first diagnosed in early 2017.

After undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy in July 2017, Julie was given the all clear, but she found lumps elsewhere in her body in September 2017.

Hannah, 24, said: “I remember her sitting me and my brother down and she said ‘it’s back and I don’t know how long I have got left’.

Hannah with her mum Julie and brother Sam (Image: Public)

“I didn’t want to cry in front of her and I remember sitting outside and crying because I didn’t know what to do.

“It was a shock because you don’t think it will happen to you, and when it happens you think it will be alright.”

But the family were given a sense of hope when Julie started treatment again, and Hannah says she thought her mum would be fine.

Hannah said: “Some people can go years and they are fine with treatment, and when my mum started her treatment again to try and stop the spread of it – when she came out of hospital – we thought she would be fine.

“But it was then on the bank holiday on Monday, May 28, 2018 when I was in Scotland and my dad rang and said ‘you need to come home’.

Julie and Hannah (Image: Public)

“I was in bits because of the drive home as well.”

Julie died on May 28, 2018, and the family were left utterly heartbroken.

Before Julie lost her battle to cancer she worked as an early years teacher at Heathfield Primary School.

She loved living life to the fullest and enjoyed socialising with friends and going on holidays.

Hannah said: “She was just a lovely, bubbly person.

“When everyone turned up at her funeral, there were so many people, and she made an impact on so many people’s lives.

“She enjoyed life and going on holidays and was a very sociable person.”

Since losing her mum, Hannah says there is not a day that goes by where she does not think of her, and that it is still a challenge.

She said: “It was hard the first year, but it’s hard even after that because sometimes it doesn’t feel real that she’s not here.

“We always supported each other, and I had always been close to my mum.

“My nan lives a few doors down and she’s like a mum to me now.”

Hannah is now taking on the Great North Run in aid of the Christie Charity in memory of her mum.

She has most recently taken on the Manchester 10k and Ironman 10k Night Run.

She said: “It’s important because I am doing this for The Christie after they looked after my mum and my auntie Yvonne, and I have lost a few family members to cancer.

“I want to raise as much money as I can for the charity and for my mum.”

To help support Hannah’s cause click here (greatnorthrun2023.enthuse.com/pf/hannah-ainsworth).

If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.

Source – INDIA TV