Mum, 28, who lost baby after breast cancer diagnosis, dies leaving behind three other children
A MUM who lost her baby after being diagnosed with breast cancer has died, leaving behind her three other children.
Jamie-Lee Waddle, 28, suffered “one devastating blow after another” since she was first diagnosed with cancer in May 2019.
Jamie-Lee Waddle leaves behind Grace, 9, Jack, 7, and 4-year-old Phoebe[/caption]The mum-of-three from Blyth, Northumb, was expecting her fourth child when she was first told she had secondary breast cancer.
But in order for her to start treatment, Jamie-Lee’s son James had to be delivered at 22 weeks – and survived for just two hours.
Jamie-Lee continued to battle the disease for almost two years after his death, and was put in isolation on a cancer ward during the Covid pandemic.
She was later reunited with her three kids Grace, 9, Jack, 7, and 4-year-old Phoebe and husband Connor, but in January a scan confirmed the cancer had spread to her brain, liver and lungs, Chronicle Live reports.
Her condition quickly deteriorated over the next few weeks and she died at home on February 4, aged just 28.
“It just happened so fast, so soon,” Jamie-Lee’s aunt, Jo Hankinson said.
“She didn’t have a chance to sort things out, which she wanted to do.
“Ever since she was diagnosed she just had one massive blow after another.”
Jamie-Lee had to go into isolation on a cancer ward during the Covid pandemic but was reunited with husband Connor and her three children before she died[/caption] Jamie-Lee pictured with Grace, Jack and Phoebe[/caption]At first, doctors thought Jamie-Lee had primary breast cancer when she was diagnosed in 2019.
Nursing assistant Jo, who helped care for Jamie-Lee during her illness, said: “She had hoped with treatment, she would have a beautiful new baby boy and be cancer free within a year.
“But they started doing more investigation and found it was secondary, incurable breast cancer.
“In order for her to start treatment she couldn’t be pregnant, so they had to deliver James at 22 weeks and he survived for two hours.
“It was a massive loss for her and Connor.”
‘MASSIVE LOSS’
Jamie-Lee started chemotherapy but faced several obstacles along the way, including life-threatening sepsis and being hospitalised with pneumonia in October last year.
Jo, 46, said: “It was touch and go at that point. The main thing was to try and get her out to be with the kids for Christmas.
“They let her out on December 23 and she made as much of a big deal for Christmas as she could, but she was just not very well at all.”
After Christmas, Kamie-Lee was hospitalised again and a full body scan confirmed that the cancer had spread.
“Her consultant said it was one of the worst brain scans he’d seen in his career,” Jo said.
Jamie-Lee passed away on February 4, leaving her family heartbroken.
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Jo has since started an online fundraising page for her niece’s children – Grace, nine, Jack, seven, and four-year-old Phoebe.
She said: “The reason I decided to try and raise money is because of a conversation we had about all these places she wanted to take the kids to make memories for them, but because of Covid-19 and ill health, she didn’t get round to many of them.
“We thought it would be a wonderful tribute to Jamie-Lee if we could help raise some money for Grace, Jack and Phoebe to have experiences in their mother’s memory.” You can help here.
The doting mum had wanted to plan memorable activities for her children before she died, but this was made impossible due to the Covid pandemic and her illness[/caption]