Cancer expert who overcame disease urges charity donations
- Published
Catherine Pointer works at Cancer Research UK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre
A cancer researcher who twice fought the disease as a teenager is urging people to think about donating to the charity she works for.
Catherine Pointer, 31, was first diagnosed with leukaemia aged 14 and for a second time aged 17.
After gruelling treatment, she secured her PhD, is now a mum of one and works at a cancer medicine centre at Southampton General Hospital.
That post is part-funded by Cancer Research UK.
Dr Pointer, from Fareham, first fell ill on a family holiday but said she overcame initial shock and was "determined that I wasn't going to die from it."
Her education was badly disrupted by the illness and she missed a year of school at 17 but later gained other experience.
Dr Pointer battled leukaemia when she was 14 and again when she was 17
"Talking to my consultants, one of them was able to give me some work experience in her lab and that was back in the hospital that I had been treated in and I was absolutely hooked [on cancer research] by that point," she added.
After a bone marrow transplant, she attended Sussex University and completed her PhD in Southampton.
She then became a lead scientist and research fellow at the city's Cancer Research UK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre.
"The only way that we can progress treatment is through research and research does cost money. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, I understand that people may think that donating to charity just isn't something that's feasible. That's fine, you need to pay your gas bill and feed your children," Dr Pointer added.
She said she is determined to do her bit in cancer research
"But that's where the legacy campaign comes in. If people can just think about Cancer Research UK in their wills then it will make a significant impact."
Dr Pointer married in 2019 and despite life-long impacts as a result of her illness, eggs donated by her sister meant that she and her husband are now parents to a son.
She added: "I don't have any grand ideas that I'm going to single-handedly cure cancer but if I can just do my bit and make it so that cancer isn't such a scary thing any more then I'll be happy that I fought back."
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