Brave mum kept up charity work while fighting rare cancer

Family and friends say poignant and proud farewell

Hundreds of people paid their respects at the funeral of a popular mother who died from a rare cancer.

Samantha Hollands, 37, who was originally from Lydd but lived in Kennington, Ashford, died from pseudomyxoma, a cancer that starts in the appendix.

It affects one in a million people and only two hospitals in this country are able to treat it.

The slow-growing disease may not show any symptoms at first and Mrs Holland was told she had it when she went to an appointment regarding her fertility.

Her mother, Susan Lee, said it was an appointment that “changed everyone’s lives”.

Mrs Lee, of The Derings, Lydd, said: “She went to have tests done and that was the day our lives changed forever.

“The consultant sat her down and told her there were going to be no more babies and that she had this cancer.”

After undergoing a 10-hour operation the following year, which involved the removal of her womb, ovaries and stomach lining, she thought the cancer had gone.

Mrs Lee added: “She never said ‘why me’ and she still did charity work for her particular cancer.

“She was always smiling. Over the next five years it came back very slowly and her stomach got bigger and bigger.

“She looked like she was nine months pregnant. In the last few months she was in so much pain.”

Mrs Hollands and her husband, Jay, married in September 2014 after she proposed to him over dinner.

Together they have 10-year-old Logan and had wanted to expand their family.

Mrs Hollands also leaves parents Susan and Robert and siblings Sarah and Adam.

Mrs Lee added: “When I came out of the church I saw so many people standing around and I just wanted to hug every single one of them.

“But we had to get into the cars and we couldn’t say thank you to everyone for coming.

“Although it was the saddest day of our lives the day she died, on the day of the funeral I was the proudest mum on the planet.”

‘On the day of the funeral I was the proudest mother on the planet’