Myras story - every family is touched by cancer at some time, sometimes a diagnosis is reached early enough and after gruelling treatment finally a brighter, happy, if different, ending to the chapter is reached. Many a time though I’ve watched family and friends struggle and despite long brave battles, a loved one is lost and another family is broken.

In 2003 I lost my sister to a very rare cancer (Psuedomyxoma peritonei) she was just 49. The cancer was so rare, the usual treatments didn’t work and little was known about it, she was researching for herself and informing her GP of what she’d discovered. There was just one pioneering surgeon and he happened to be in this country, a long gruelling operation followed which gave her a little more time with her family.

The work I’ve put in to making the first Woburn Sands Art Trail possible is dedicated to the memory of my dear sister Katharine and also my lovely Mother in law Jo who also lost the fight. In both cases diagnosis came too late......

Carmens story - I was one of the unfortunate people that were misdiagnosed during the lockdown. Just before lockdown, I did approach my doctor complaining about a pain in my side. They kept telling me that it was my fibromyalgia playing up. I took their advice and tried to carry on the best that I could. The pain was absolutely unbearable. It was like a shark hanging onto my side and shaking me around. 

At Christmas during the lockdown, I was admitted to hospital with acute diverticulitis. They had to do a scan to see if my bowel was perforated. That is when they found that in fact I had stage four cancer in my lung and rib cage. I have just found out that it has spread to my liver. I am on palliative care. I know that times are tough for everybody at the moment but if you can give pennies they can make pounds. And its the pounds that we flipping want! Hopefully one day, they will find kinder treatments and maybe cures for other types of cancer and one day for all cancers.