A mum who was “sent home to die” after her lung cancer battle has shocked doctors with her response, after remarkably beating the horrific disease.
Four years ago, Sarah Clarke, 43, was given the awful news that cancer in her lungs had spread and that there was nothing that could be done to save her.
Despite two operations to remove tumours from her brain, the mum was told that there was no chance of survival.
The metastatic lung cancer Sarah had been suffering with since 2017 looked like it would claim her life, and she had to break the news to her family that she would not live to see her birthday in April.
Sarah recorded videos of herself for her children to watch as they grow up
Geograph
However, against all odds, Sarah lived to see in her 39th birthday – and more after that.
Her consultant at Northern General Hospital, in Sheffield, was shocked at the results.
Consultant Saruabh Sinha could hardly believe his eyes, as the chances of someone surviving metastatic lung cancer for more than five years is just four per cent.
No one believed this would happen when Sarah was sent home on Mother’s Day 2019 to break the agonising news to her husband Adam, 42, and children Joe, 13 and Georgina, 11.
“I was in complete disbelief”, she told the Mirror.
“The life I had planned ahead of me with my family disappeared. The hardest thing was realising I wouldn’t see my kids grow up.”
Sarah even began to plan her funeral out of certainty that she would not live to see her next birthday.
The mum-of-two’s only solace was that she had prepared for this moment.
Sarah decided that to ensure her children remembered her even when she was gone, she would record videos of herself for them to watch as they grew up.
She recorded 40 moving videos on a wide range of subjects, such as puberty and sex education, to her own first kiss and wedding.
However, to her disbelief, Sarah’s cancer went into remission.
Brain tumours normally grow back within six weeks of removal, but her scans were all clear.
Sarah has now almost fully recovered and believes her recovery was due to “love and hope”.
“I believe it’s love and hope that got me through,” she says.
“I felt so loved. It was amazing. I had been in complete disbelief.
“I was sent home to die. But after doing all of the videos and the letters. I thought, ‘I’ve had such a good life’, and I want my kids to live their lives, to follow their dreams. I feel having everyone around me, having this self-actualisation, is why I am still here.”
After her initial diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer, Sarah underwent several rounds of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy, which helped her start to feel better.
However, painful headaches led to CT scans which showed two brain tumours.
“My surgeon told me I had less than six months. That’s when I started making videos for the children for when they were older, telling them all I could about me and giving them advice for the future. I still haven’t been able to watch those videos back, but maybe when Joe and Georgina are older we will do that.
Sarah miraculously beat the odds and her and her family are planning bucket-list adventures they never deemed possible.
PA
“I did so much reflecting on my life with letters to family and friends. The thought of missing out on stuff with the kids was heartbreaking. But I was happy.”
Upon hearing of the diagnosis, Sarah’s family gathered round her in support.
Her twin sister Allison quit her job in London and moved back to Sheffield to be with Sarah and her parents Dave and Jane, both 74, began to prepare themselves to become carers for their grandchildren.
Sarah says: “Alison was preparing herself to be like their surrogate mum. And Adam was amazing, it made me realise what a fantastic relationship we have and how he’s the best dad in the world. I realised how lucky I was the kids had him – that they’d grow into well-rounded, amazing people. Of course it all affected Adam massively, but he took it in his stride.”
However, Sarah miraculously beat the odds and her and her family are planning bucket-list adventures they never deemed possible.
She now sends her consultant Saurabh a photo of herself on her birthday every year to thank him for his work.
He said: “I told her she wouldn’t be here for her birthday, I’m delighted to be wrong. I’ve never known metastatic lung cancer to be cured. It’s amazing she’s still here, and it’s nice to see the photograph every year that Sarah sends me.”