"Take five minutes to make yourself aware": A UHNM manager's plea after brother's death just 13 weeks after rare cancer diagnosis

A UHNM senior manager is raising awareness of a rare cancer 12 months on from her brother receiving the devastating diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma or bile duct cancer. 

Beccy Kirkham, Director of Operations for Network Division, is appealing to staff and the people of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the cancer as part of cholangiocarcinoma awareness month.

Her brother, Jim, died in May last year just 13 weeks after being diagnosed and cared for at Royal Stoke University Hospital , leaving his wife and six children.

Beccy said: “My brother Jim was given the devastating diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma on 12 February 2024, a year ago today.  He was a fit, active, healthy young man up until this diagnosis and had just turned 48 years old. He was a teacher in a local pupil referral unit with a huge passion for education and was a loving husband and a dad to six beautiful children. He attended ED with jaundice and that was the only obvious sign that something was wrong. Other than that, he had experienced some ‘niggles’ but put it down to a busy life and getting a bit older.  A cliche maybe, but he never went to his GP and was never ill.

“Jim was given weeks, possibly months to live and sadly passed away on 15 May 2024, just 13 weeks after his diagnosis, leaving a huge hole in our lives.”

Beccy added that February will always be a very difficult month for my family, it is Jim’s birthday month and also when he received his diagnosis, but she and her family are channelling their sadness into a focus on making people aware of the rare form of cancer.

“Jim’s care was at UHNM, so to those that directly cared for Jim, you are amazing. During Jim’s most vulnerable times, you made a huge difference for him and our family. We want people to take just five minutes to make themselves more aware and if we can prevent just one person and one family going through what we are going through, then we have achieved something.”

February is cholangiocarcinoma awareness month; part of this awareness is to share the ‘Faces of Cholangiocarcinoma’ which shows that, when caught in time, there can be a better prognosis. More information can be found here