Mum’s ‘little bundle of strength’

DEBRA Hill loves all of her six children, but she has a special bond with her youngest, Ellie now six.

Debra believes that Ellie saved her life, and the pair will be appearing on a Channel 4 programme next month to explain. “I was 29 weeks pregnant when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer,” explains Debra.

“I’d had some bleeding and felt exhausted all the time. The doctors said it was nothing to worry about but I knew my own body and I knew something wasn’t right. In the end I pushed and I went for some tests and the doctors confirmed that I had cancer. I’d had a smear test the year before and it was clear. If I hadn’t been pregnant they might not have discovered it and it might have been too late for me. She is my angel.”

Debra didn’t want to start any treatment until after her baby was born.

“I could feel her kicking inside me and there was nothing I would do to harm her. I wasn’t the main priority,” she says. Ellie was delivered at 33 weeks – five weeks early – after Debra’s waters broke and she had to have a Caesarian section. She was taken straight into the special care baby unit as her tiny lungs needed help to work properly.

It was another two weeks before Debra started her chemotherapy, which was followed by a course of radiotherapy.

“It all happened so fast that I really didn’t have time to think about myself. I have six children and I always put myself last. I had to be a survivor; I had to get through it for them. I couldn’t let it get to me. Initially they would let me take Ellie with me; she was my little bundle of strength. I had to do what I had to do to survive. I was more mortified that I wasn’t allowed to breast feed. I had breast-fed all the others.” Debra, 37, has six children aged six to 20, and a one-year-old grandchild.

She became very ill and needed a blood transfusion, but was allowed home just before Christmas. “I had a lot of support from family and friends and my partner, but they couldn’t really understand what I was going through.” Debra’s radiotherapy nurse suggested she contact Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, a support group for women who have undergone cervical cancer.

“I went on to the website and there was a forum and there were women who had gone through exactly the same as me. It was such a relief to know I wasn’t alone. There were women who’d gone through it ten years ago and lived to tell the tale; it really gave me hope.”

Although Debra was still struggling with her own health she wanted to help other women in the same way that she had been helped by the charity. “There are about 50 or 60 women I speak to and know their personal stories. We try to meet up once a year and it gives me the motivation to keep going.”

Debra has also been heavily involved in campaigning for better screening for cervical cancer. She has been to 10 Downing Street three times presenting petitions demanding that the age of smear testing be dropped from 25 to 20 in England as it is in the rest of the UK. Last year she gained the support of Jade Goody’s mother Jackiey Budden. Jade died from cervical cancer aged 27.

“It is terrible to hear about some of these young women who have lost their lives and some have never been screened,” says Debra.

“I have five daughters and they have been vaccinated against the virus that can cause cervical cancer, but they cannot get a smear test on the NHS, although I could pay for them to have a private test. It just doesn’t seem right.”

Debra has also been involved in organising The Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust Walk for Fun in Leeds next month. And despite having weight loss surgery in January and suffering a liver condition caused by her treatment, she is hoping to take part in this year’s event. “I have lost seven stone since January and although my health isn’t great I really want to continue with this walk.”

STRETCH YOUR LEGS FOR CAUSE

The Walk for Fun events take place across the UK and arrive in Leeds in June.

“This walk is a great way to raise funds for the UK’s only charity dedicated to women and the people close to them dealing with cervical cancer and abnormalities.

“But more than anything it’s about remembering, celebrating and having a brilliant time,” says Debra Hill, who is hoping 100 people join in as well as local celebrities.

To sign up for the Walk for Fun in Golden Acre Park on Sunday, June 12, or for more information – go to www.jostrust.org.uk.