It's hard watching a loved one die, but that's what my family had to do when our youngest sister, Chris Cato, lost her battle against brain cancer at UCLH in November 2022 after a relatively short illness. Chris started feeling unwell on 8th August,  about 1 month later after blood tests, biopsy & various other tests, she was diagnosed with brain cancer & admitted to UCLH as an emergency. We didn't know it at the time, but this turned out to be a very aggressive cancer.

We were hopeful at first as Chris was responding well to the chemotherapy & she was cracking jokes with staff, giving 'instructions', just being herself. Unfortunately Chris then contracted pneumonia & was transferred to ICU. Subsequently, sepsis took hold & this finally proved too big a battle for my 'baby' sister. 

Chris wanted to live so much, she loved her husband, her family, her 3 grandchildren & her garden, she had so much to live for. Her devoted husband of 45+ years sat by her bedside at UCLH every day wishing & hoping she would pull through (as we all were). On train strike days (there were several), he walked a couple of hours each way to & from UCLH to be with her; she was sedated by now so wouldn't have known if he was there or not, but he knew. There were bad days & better days, but rarely 'good' days by this stage. 

Having run a few marathons I thought I was getting "too old for this stuff"! Then when Chris lost her battle I felt I needed to do something to thank the staff (the nursing staff in the Neurological ICU were a great support to both Chris & my brother-in-law through this time). So it's time to dust off my marathon training schedule, increase the miles again, & do my sister proud in April.

Please help me support the amazing work of UCLH NHS Trust. Every year thousands of patients are treated by the dedicated staff. Together we can do more!