WE SAID GOODBYE ON BOXING DAY

All Karen Haigh, 62, wanted was for her beloved daughter to be home for one last Christmas, but the speed of her cancer took them all by surprise

Picking up my phone, I was greeted by my daughter Kathryn’s familiar voice. ‘Can you help me pick the kids up from school?’ she asked. It was November 2021, and I only lived a few miles away so I was always happy to help out. Kathryn, 33, was a carer and worked really hard. Along with her brother Richard, we were a really close family. I’d split from their dad years ago but my children and grandchildren meant everything to me and I saw them all often.

Kathryn had just bought and moved into her first house with her husband Mark and their three kids Max, then 11, Emily, eight, and Charlotte, four. With December fast approaching, they were so excited for their first Christmas in their new home.

Collecting the kids later that afternoon, Kathryn met me at the school gates, clutching her side. I think I’ve pulled something, she winced. She’d been on a moving and handling course at her carer job earlier that day, so we just put it down to her overdoing things.

But days passed and her pain only got worse. Her GP was worried that it might be kidney stones so she was sent straight to AGE. There, they took blood and booked her in for an ultrasound to search for kidney stones or a blood clot on her lungs. A few days later, the pain in her side had subsided, but a shadow was found on her liver.

‘Ineed to go for an MRI, she sighed, when I popped in for a cup of tea. She didn’t seem worried so I tried my best not to overthink things. Besides, I kept reminding myself that she was only 33 surely too young and healthy for it to be anything sinister.