The below is the story of Eunice Smith, written in the words of her husband. Sadly, it highlights that despite the worldwide pandemic, Cancer does not stand still for COVID-19 and there are still local people such as Eunice, fighting their brave fight in the face of adversity. Please read the brave story below and see the smiles of a beautiful young mother, who got to experience her Dream day:
“In February 2018, at the age of 28, Eunice was pregnant with our son Cayden, when she started to experience pain on right side on her lower back. Time passed and it got progressively worse until she ended up in hospital after finding blood found in her urine.
Eunice was sent for a scan which would reveal she had a large cyst on her kidney around 15cm in diameter. Doctors were unsure what the cyst was and thought it might be a tape worm so did numerous tests, all of which would eventually point to cancer, but they were still not sure where it originated. So, they decided the best course of action would be to remove the kidney and cyst while Eunice was 25 weeks pregnant. The surgery went well, and the baby was fine. However, Eunice would later have to give birth early, at 32 weeks, due to developing a lump found on her neck. Following this she was told she would need to start chemo straight away.
For at least a year, things seemed like they were going well until she started experiencing pain in her right side and back again. This would naturally lead to even more tests, and scans revealed the cancer had spread to her peritoneal area and the treatment was not working as it should. Doctors diagnosed Eunice with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, which only had limited treatment available for her, she was offered something call axitinib.
Sadly, the negative impact did not end there as Eunice developed peritoneal deposit ascites (abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen) and was given a permanent drain to release the build-up. We went to see the oncologist hoping to hear something positive for a change but was told there was no more treatment available in Doncaster, but he could refer us to the Royal Marsden in London. As we eagerly waited for a reply to go to London, Eunice was told there was no trials available for her at the moment but there was actually a treatment in Doncaster available after all, which at least gave us some hope. Eunice then started to experience severe pain and was admitted into hospital in July 2020, during the height of the current pandemic. After 6 weeks of trying to manage that pain and Eunice losing a lot of weight, the doctors told us the treatment Royal Marsden had suggested, is not even legal to prescribe for that type of cancer. The doctors had not ever seen this type before, making Eunice the first. The inevitable and devastating news would follow that, as we were told there was nothing else left to offer, only to help make her time as comfortable as possible.
Eunice is a mother of 4 children, 3 boys aged 13, 9 and 2, and a girl aged 4. She is well known for being the most bubbly, caring person who always put others first, LOVED to dance, and lived life to the fullest. She always wanted to get married, I guess like most young girls it was a carefully mapped out dream as all her family were fully aware of it. Initially she did not share that dream with me as I had given her the impression, I did not want to get married. I assume she thought I would never ask, so what was the point in telling me about her wedding day Dreams. But, As the happy year’s past, the reality was I think I always knew that one day I would ask Eunice to be my wife.
Originally it was my plan was to take her back to her home country of Zambia to get married, after we had bought a house and was financially secure, but things dramatically changed and made all those plans simple not possible.
However, On September 20th 2020, that wedding Dream became a reality and she was overwhelmed with happiness.
Despite all the current COVID-19 precautions, the day was amazing, with an intimate and emotional ceremony for everyone. It was a beautiful moment shared with our children, family, and close friends, all together just as Eunice had Dreamed. For that day, nothing else mattered and it was like everything related to the illness just did not exist. That is everything I wanted for her, to just have a day filled with love, family and happiness.
Our magical day simply would not have been possible without the help from the charity Evestrust, the fundraisers at their charity’s partners BGL Group, and all the kind acts from everybody who were involved. Eunice looked incredible on the day, she was full of smiles and laughs and thankfully we captured all the amazing moments on camera. Most importantly, we have some great memories to cherish from that day. We are incredibly grateful we had the opportunity to experience the best day of our lives x”
Sadly, Eunice Smiths battle with Cancer came to and end on Sunday 4th October 2020.
Right now, we would like thank Eunice’s family for not only allowing us to share her story, but also to show the beautiful happy smiles from her dream wedding day.
Our thoughts are of course with the family at this difficult time; however, we would like to encourage anybody who would like to contribute, to the following Justgiving.com page the family have set up a to help assist with funeral costs. Thank you in advance for any support you can give.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/eunicesmith?utm_id=106&utm_term=YwqKJ3MBM&__FB_PRIVATE_TRACKING__=%7B%22loggedout_browser_id%22%3A%2265c86a82582aa920c21d148f15de111ce157b4f3%22%7D&fbclid=IwAR1G7HHbOELyyJ8eZhyQfp3RBrum88lauZzrIGKBYDNwDLx4x4HzFsxHX9U
Special Thanks to The Earl of Doncaster Hotel, finishing touches by Dawn, Andy lynch, Coll Pearson, Doncaster Registry Office
#dreammaker #cancer #charity
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