Loved ones rooting for brave Yorkshire mum-of-three battling cancer for third time

Friends and family are rallying round Jessica Sloane after being told the devastating news that her cancer has returned.

Jess was only 25 when she was first diagnosed, and was in an induced coma for 18 days and suffered a stroke after developing neutropenic sepsis while undergoing intensive chemotherapy.

Doctors warned she could have been left brain dead, and at one point gave her just 24 hours to live.

But Jess defied all the medics' expectations and - despite the stroke leaving her paralysed down one side, blind in one eye and on dialysis - she has worked hard to regain some of her speech and mobility.

"She's a true fighter," said he fiance Conor Waddington, 29.

"Her fight and her spirit are amazing. For her to keep going after everything that has happened to her, it takes a lot."

Jess, now 27, is mum to a boy and two girls - 10-year-old Luishon, six-year-old Luiellah and three-year-old Odealliah.

She has worked in several cafes in Halifax, including Cafe Sol, where Conor says she loved meeting and chatting to people.

She was diagnosed with Leukaemia in May 2020, when her youngest was 11 months old.

She was just adjusting to life post-cancer when she received the blow shortly before Christmas that it was back, this time affecting her central nervous system.

It was a rare type of the disease, said doctors, and she was given only weeks to live.

But Jess was offered a trial drug and, incredibly, in the space of three weeks the cancer was gone.

She was getting back into a routine, taking her children to and from school and seeing friends, when the family were told three weeks ago that Jess is facing another cancer battle.

She needed intensive chemotherapy but, because of the pandemic and visiting restrictions, could not have Conor or any of her family with her.

Understandably after what happened the first time, she and Conor have reservations about her undergoing the intensive chemotherapy again - but her eldest has persuaded her she must keep fighting.

"He said 'Mum, you've got to go for it. You've got to fight'," said Conor.

The treatment will mean five weeks in hospital but this time she can have Conor at her bedside.

The couple have been together for nearly five years.

"I love everything about her," said Conor. "She is an amazing mum and so clued up on life.

"She's still kept her sense of humour. She can still have a smile and giggle and make the most of the moment.

"You don't ever think this is going to happen. For it to happen to Jess and our family has been hard."

Conor, a gas engineer, has had to miss months of work since Jess's first diagnosis. Their friends have launched a fundraising page in a bid to help them through the tough times ahead.

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-help-jessie-lea