Leicester woman separated from mum loses cancer battle

Marian Thomas and Michelle Teale were separated for 22 weeks in 2020

A woman with incurable cancer, who spent several months separated from her mother during the coronavirus lockdown, died on Christmas Day.

Michelle Teale, 60, died at the LOROS hospice in Leicester.

Her mother Marian Thomas said the lifting of restrictions had allowed the pair to make up for lost time.

She said her daughter "must have made an impression on everybody she met" to account for the amount of condolences she has received.

Mrs Teale, who lived in Leicester with her husband Melvyn, was first diagnosed with cancer in April 2019.

Her 87-year-old mother lives about 90 miles (145km) away in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, and in 2020 they were separated for 22 weeks while Leicester was in an extended pandemic lockdown.

They were reunited that summer when the restrictions eased but then at Christmas 2020 Mrs Teale was told her secondary breast cancer had spread to her liver and lungs.

At this time the mother and daughter were not able to see each other again because of another lockdown.

Mrs Teale was able to spend more time with her mother before she died

Mrs Teale was given just days to live but she continued her cancer battle for another year.

Her mother said this allowed them to make up for the time together that they had lost.

"She only went home when she'd got appointments at the hospital and she'd stay the rest of the week then she'd be back," she said.

Mrs Teale was diagnosed with cancer in April 2019 while her mother is a breast cancer survivor

Mrs Thomas said she had been to see her daughter at the hospice in the days leading up to her death.

"I think she knew I was there but she didn't speak. She just smiled and nodded her head."

She said on Christmas Day she went to visit her daughter again but she died just before she got to the room.

"She'd gone, we missed her by seconds," she said.

Mrs Thomas, who is a cancer survivor herself, said she had sadly lost many family members including all her sisters and two husbands to the illness.