Jan was diagnosed with Clear Cell Sarcoma in 2024 after a trip to Florence, following which, Jan had her left leg, and part of her hip and pelvis amputated, spending 5-months in hospital recovering from her surgery.

On returning home, Jan adapted to her limited mobility with her usual zest for life and despite set-backs, she would always squeeze the most out of every day. Jan was a one-off, who made a huge impact upon anyone who met her.

Unless Clear Cell Sarcoma is caught very early, it has a tendency to metastasise and insidiously spread to other areas of the body. Sadly, this happened to Jan and she was readmitted to hospital in April.

When Jan was told, just a few weeks ago that they had found tumours on her spine she said to a neighbour that “she was lucky as Clear Cell Sarcoma normally affects children.” Her good fortune was being able to live a good life, albeit cut short, whereas a child would not have had this opportunity. A very special lady.

Jan, in her own words, lived a “rock and roll” life. She was an inspirational and lovely lady who had so much more living to do. Her life was cut short by a disease that has no effective treatment because, up until now it has been little researched.

Clear cell sarcoma (CCS) is a rare, aggressive cancer that mainly affects children and young adults. While early-stage tumours can sometimes be treated with surgery and radiotherapy, the outlook becomes much more challenging once the cancer spreads to lymph nodes and other parts of the body. In this metastatic setting, effective treatment options are very limited.

Edward Showler was a young doctor when he was diagnosed with Clear Cell Sarcoma in 2016 and died just 8 months later at the age of 28 years.

The Edward Showler Foundation was set up in Ed’s memory by his parents and friends, to fund research to develop effective treatments for Clear Cell Sarcoma patients, to support those affected by this awful disease and to increase sarcoma awareness.

The Foundation has so far raised over £1.25 million and is funding research at the Cancer Institute at University College London, at Cambridge University and at the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute in the US.

If you would like to find out more about the Edward Showler Foundation please call us on 07740 871683 or email us at info@edwardshowlerfoundation.com or visit our website www.edwardshowlerfoundation.com

If you would like to donate to help us, find a cure for Clear Cell Sarcoma, please do so via the link