Jamie & Jo Evans - Wedding & Honeymoon to Majorca, July 08

A YOUNG Saltash woman diagnosed with a rare form of terminal cancer has urged people to 'live life to the full' after being told she could have just weeks to live.

Joanne Evans, 24, was diagnosed with an untreatable form of ovarian cancer in June and doctors told her then she had just six months left.

In the last 50 years, only 30 such cases – bilateral Krukenberg tumours – have been reported anywhere in the world.

Now, Joanne has told The Herald: "Life is so precious; you just don't know when it'll be taken away."

Joanne's first symptoms were a swollen stomach, swollen lymph glands and lymphoedema, a build-up of fluids, in her legs.

Struggling with fatigue, she was forced to give up full-time work.

Doctors, struggling with a diagnosis, warned her to prepare herself – but the news was worse than she feared.

"When I first found out, I was prepared to go through chemotherapy and lose my hair – which is a big thing for a young girl – but they said it could shorten my life", she said.

"When they told me I had six months I thought, 'Well, at least I haven't got to live with it too long'. I was feeling all right in June, so it didn't seem real, but the cancer is so unusual and aggressive that on the PET (positron emission tomography) scan I was off the scale.

"We went home and we were all hysterical. Then it was a case of telling my friends face to face, so I did that the next day."

Joanne and fiancé Jamie, 27, had planned to marry this month but brought their wedding forward to July 27 – the hottest day of the year.

The couple, who have been together for five years, described their wedding at Boringdon Hall as 'the perfect day'.

Jamie said: "Jo did really well, because she'd been pretty ill up to the day and she'd only just got out of hospital the week before. She even ended up dancing with her dad and friends.

"We'd written our own vows as well, because the traditional ones didn't really apply, so everyone was bawling their eyes out. Weddings are emotional enough as it is."

With help from the charity Dream-A-Way the couple, along with Joanne's parents Loraine and Frank Butler, were able to jet off to a five-star hotel in Majorca.

Despite being unable to get travel insurance as a result of her illness, the couple returned almost as soon as they had landed to enjoy a 10-day break on their own.

Joanne's positive attitude is inspirational, but she is aware things are getting tougher as the tumour continues to grow.

"Every day seems like a bit of a struggle," she admits. "The tiredness has gone on like a switch and I've got more pain now, and sickness.

"I get my depressed days and I get my good days too – I'm quite a strong person – but it's hard thinking about things I was looking forward to in the future, then thinking I haven't got a future."

Joanne and Jamie lived together in the Barbican for more than three years and were hoping to start a family – a dream which will never come true. They have now been forced to move in with Joanne's parents, where Jamie helps with her day-to-day care, along with Joanne's brother Craig and the rest of her family.

With Joanne unable to get up until 12pm most days, her friends Lucy, Eryl, Amy, Debbie, Sian, Joe and Emma often keep her company.

Remarkably, Joanne says she no longer fears death.

"I'm not deeply religious but I visited a priest because I wanted that comfort of knowing there is something after death," she said.

"My feelings change all the time, but mostly I'm just worrying about my mum and my dad and not being there for my brother's wedding.

"A couple of weeks ago I just couldn't get out of bed and I was panicking that I was going to die without them there. I felt so ill; I thought that was it, but the nurses said you get to a state of acceptance before you die and that made me feel a lot better. It's not like you go to sleep one night and don't wake up; I'll be able to have my family and Jamie there."

Jamie's police colleagues helped stage a charity football day at Torpoint Athletic's ground where a team of officers and members of Joanne's family won 4-3 against a team of Argyle veterans including Tommy Tynan and Micky Evans. Thanks to his dad Allan Evans, a European Cup winner with Aston Villa in 1982 and now an Argyle youth team coach, memorabilia auctioned off afterwards raised more than £3,000. The money helped them have trips away, but they also decided to donate £1,000 apiece to Cancer Research UK and Derriford's Renal Unit.

Joanne, who had a kidney transplant as a child, said: "If that £1,000 can save someone, or help with research, then it's great. All the nurses here I've known so long and they're excellent – especially Amanda."

The former Burraton Community Primary and Saltash Community College pupil said she wanted to thank her former workplace, Pertemps, as well as everyone who had donated money and helped with her wedding and care.

She said she hoped her situation would inspire people to back cancer research and put life in perspective.

"People squabble about the smallest things when life's so precious," she said. "You just don't know when it'll be taken away. If you could just have a day of my life and have it all taken away from you, then you wouldn't argue about small things. Life is precious; live it."

Story used with kind permission of Plymouth Herald