Marie

Marie died aged just 39. Cancer affects too many young people and we would like to do what we can to support Pancreatic Cancer UK to change this.

Following diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer in April 2022, Marie fought bravely for six months. She did so with courage and dignity, and protected those she loved. She did not want to leave her three young children (aged 7, 5 and 1), husband, sisters and parents.

Her symptoms were backache and tiredness. Pancreatic cancer is a silent killer. She was strong enough to receive treatment which undoubtedly extended her life by months, and she cherished every moment spent with our children, family and friends. But we were not ready to say goodbye.

There are few positive outcomes from a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. 7 in 10 people do not go on to receive treatment. Where treatment is possible options are extremely limited, with pancreatic cancer evading drugs which are helping to beat other types of cancer.

Funding research into pancreatic cancer is the only positive step we can take, in the hope that one day other young families facing this disease may have a better outcome. In the UK pancreatic cancer research has been underfunded for decades, receiving only 3% of research funding. Yet it is the 5th biggest cancer killer. This situation needs to change which Pancreatic Cancer UK is trying to achieve by funding research breakthroughs from the next generation of researchers, earlier diagnosis and better treatments and care.

Our first celebration of Marie’s life and achievements will be a sponsored walk, which Marie’s friends can do with us as a family, or separately. We hope it will be a chance to swap stories and perhaps find some smiles and laughter, as Marie would have wanted. There will be more details added to this page shortly. We would appreciate your support, with any donations in Marie's name going to Pancreatic Cancer UK. More information is here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/milesformarie

Next will be Rob running the London Marathon 2023 in April. More information is here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/robkingmarathon2023

We have created a Team page so friends and family can raise money in memory of Marie. More information is here:

https://www.justgiving.com/team/MarieKingFoundation

We will keep track of this page and in years to come look forward to adding further updates on our fundraising, and reading back over the support from our friends and family. As our children grow up they will be able to see just how much their mummy was loved.