With days to live, cancer victim, 28, shares her final photos
A YOUNG woman who has just days to live after being diagnosed with bowel cancer has bravely shared images of her ravaged body in a hospice bed to help raise awareness of the disease.
Amy Redhead, 28, had complained about abdominal pain before being told in October that she had the cancer, which had spread to her liver.
She was given six months to live but refused chemotherapy in order to extend her time in order to enjoy her final months without feeling unwell.
Recently her health deteriorated and she was admitted to a hospice on January 29. A gaunt Miss Redhead is seen wearing breathing apparatus in her bed while having her nails done.
Miss Redhead, who is single and from Catshill, Worcestershire, has already planned her own funeral and has created a memory box to ease the pain for her family after she has gone.
Her sister Emily, 22, is sharing her story to help raise awareness for bowel cancer and its link to ulcerative colitis, a condition caused by an inflammation of the bowel which Miss Redhead had suffered from since childhood.
‘Amy had lost loads of weight but it wasn’t until she felt a lump in her stomach that she was referred for tests,’ Emily said.
‘We were devastated when we were told it was bowel cancer and was incurable. Amy is so stubborn and it was no surprise she refused chemotherapy – the doctors had told us it would only give us more time. She said she’d rather have less time and feel healthier in herself so that’s what she chose to do.
‘We’re so grateful to have celebrated her birthday, Christmas, New Year and our dad Robert’s 76th birthday together. Amy has shared her story on social media throughout her ordeal but now she’s not well enough to do so for herself, we’re doing it for her.
‘We’re sharing the photos of her in the hospice from the past few days to show others the impact bowel cancer has on the body.’
The once-vivacious Miss Redhead, who had been working for her younger sister’s pensions administration firm, had lost four stone since her diagnosis. Her sister added: ‘We are so proud of the fight she’s put up for the last few months, she has been so brave, but she has said she’s ready to die now and no longer be in pain.
‘Amy was fit and enjoying the gym just weeks before she was diagnosed. We don’t know whether she first blamed her symptoms on her colitis but we want people to be aware of any changes if you have the condition.
‘Amy decided to stop all of her medication last week and is now preparing for the end of her life. She is on a high dose of morphine for the pain and with 70 per cent of her liver now being consumed with
‘She has been so brave’
cancer, blood clots in her lungs and around her heart, we could lose her at any time.’
Miss Redhead had wanted to die at home but decided to go into the Primrose Hospice in Bromsgrove to get the round-the- clock care she needs.
Her sister added: ‘ Our parents always told us not to argue when we’d have silly rows as we’d only have each other once they were gone. Amy’s diagnosis has made me realise how important siblings are and to never take the little things for granted.’
The NHS website says people with ulcerative colitis, which is incurable, have an increased risk of developing bowel cancer.
Initial cancer symptoms can be similar to colitis. These include blood in the stools, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.