Whitley Bay husband buying time with wife after cancer diagnosis

Keir Waugh said he is buying time with his wife Rachelle for their daughters Willow and Everly

A husband says he is trying to buy time with his wife after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Rachelle Waugh, 34, was treated for cervical cancer in January, but on Monday the mother of two was told the disease had spread to her lungs.

Her husband Keir Waugh said palliative chemotherapy had been suggested, but she was too ill and it would mean shielding away from family.

The family was exploring private immunotherapy treatment, he said.

Mr Waugh, 36, the son of playwright Ed Waugh, said: "It does not feel real, we are just numb. It all happened really quickly.

"We know she is going to go but if we can do something that's going to get her an extra six months or even a year with us, we have to try.

"Because of the time we have, the only option is to go private. It could be futile but it could work, it's now basically about buying time for us as a family."

Keir and Rachelle Waugh got married two years ago after five years together

After three months in hospital, Mrs Waugh, a lecturer in health and social care at Newcastle College, is back at the family's home in Whitley Bay with her husband and their daughters Willow, nine, and Everly, five.

Mr Waugh said: "She is still weak and has been pole-axed by it but she is here. She is focusing her energy on putting everything into place for the three of us after she is gone."

He said she was "unlikely to tolerate any more" chemotherapy, adding: "Due to Covid it would mean back to shielding and spending final days alone and all she wants is quality of life over quantity."

Mr Waugh said it was a "humongous ask" for her to overcome the cervical cancer, but it was done "just a little too late".