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How Janey Carr’s Private Pain Inspired Her to Help Others

- Ciara Pratt

Janey Carr has lived all over the world, but in every country she’s been in, one thing has remained a constant – everybody needs help and more often than not, people are too afraid to ask for it.

It’s something she’s seen in her own life through her parents. When she was 18, Janey’s mother Roz (69) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and given two months to live. Luckily, she responded to treatment but what followed for her family was a 30-year battle.

“She’s had cancer on and off, which has been quite difficult, especially for my stepfather Stuart,” Janey (48) explains from her home in West Auckland. “All the treatment, it just takes over your life. They’ve had a really good support network where they live in Australia and, unfortunately, for most of those times when she’s had to have treatment, I haven’t been in the country.”

Janey had been living in London with her husband Andrew and their son Laud (10) during this time. But in February 2015, Roz suffered complications from surgery and Janey flew to be by her side.

“They weren’t sure if she would pull through as she’d gone into a coma. And so I took Laud to Australia and we waited at the hospital. But I was able to finally see the impact it was having on Stuart in particular. It really hit home.”