Annalisa Di Bella

My mum, Annalisa Di Bella, was the best and kindest person I’ve ever met. She had the soul of an angel and will be missed by everyone around her. The purpose of this tribute page is to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK so they can continue their efforts in researching this ruthless disease.

My mum grew up in the Sicilian city of Messina, which we used to visit frequently. Her mum and dad (my nonno and nonna) still live there, alongside her sister, and I visit them frequently. She was brought up in Messina, but at the age of 19, she moved to Dublin, Ireland, to study her degree in English Literature. After 4 years of hard work, she achieved a first-class honours degree, which made her so happy. It was an accomplishment that she and her family remember very well.

In 1996, she joined British Airways as Cabin Crew – a position she held for 21 years. She traveled the world and loved everything about it. She visited countless countries with work, and I used to speak very proudly to my friends in school about my mum’s job and how cool it was that she used to go to a new country every day. Her job also made me fascinated by planes, which I still love today, and every time I travel on one, I have fond memories of all the traveling I did with her and how proud I used to feel seeing her in her Cabin Crew uniform.

Outside of work, my mum lived a very happy life with her husband (my dad) Phil. They met in London before moving to Buckinghamshire when I was two years old. They soon had my brother after, and we lived as a happy family, doing lots together and making so many wonderful memories.

In 2017, she was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. As the treatment in the UK was not great at the time for her type of cancer, she moved to Italy with my brother to undergo chemotherapy. She enjoyed her time there thoroughly - long days on the beach (her favorite thing to do), tennis, swimming, and the gym were her main activities in Italy. We visited her often, and we loved the time we spent there. She had surgery in Verona, Italy, in November 2017, which we thought was a success. In January 2018, we discovered that some of the cancer had spread to her liver, so we continued chemotherapy to help ease her symptoms. By August, the cancer had unfortunately spread to the rest of her body, and in the same month, she was admitted to the hospital to receive special care. She remained in the hospital for over a month before she sadly passed away on September 14th, 2018.

I have so many amazing memories with my mum, all of which I will never forget, such as when we used to spend all of our summers abroad in Italy (which were so amazing) and when we used to sing along to songs in the car and in the kitchen. So many memories are stuck in my mind, and I think about them often. I really wish she were still here - I need her now more than ever. I think about her every day, and I miss her with all of my heart.

I love you so much