A WORCESTER woman is celebrating the ten year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis by reflecting on all the things that she has done over the last decade that she may never have been able to.

Dawn-Marie Wright, 45, discovered she had ovarian cancer in 2011 - the same year her only nephew was born.

She said: "I am so grateful to have been able to watch my nieces and nephew grow up. They mean the world to me.

"I was extremely fortunate that the cancer was caught early on and so I didn't have to have any chemotherapy or anything like that. But, it changed my life forever. A shock like that makes you take stock of your life. None of us know how long we are going to be here for and we have to make the most of every day."

After the treatment she recieved at Worcestershire Royal Hospital saved her life Dawn-Marie decided to make a change

She said: "I had been working in a travel agents for fifteen years, but after everything I went through and seeing the incredible work of the NHS I knew I wanted to be a part of it. It was a huge change, but not one I regret in the slightest. I left my old job, retrained in Human Resources and by 2013 I was working for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

“I am in awe of the incredible skills and expertise of our clinical colleagues every day, but even more so over the last 12 months with the huge challenges they have all faced as a result of Covid-19.”

"I feel very proud to be a very small cog in the bigger wheel of Worcestershire Acute hospitals NHS Trust and the NHS. I’m so grateful to be well and still symptom-free after 10 years, when I know so many other people who are touched by cancer aren’t so fortunate.

“In my role as Revalidation Support Officer and more widely as part of Human Resources if I can help support our clinical colleagues and their enormous efforts in any way it is my pleasure, and the very least I can do.”