Threads of life: the importance of marie curie

By abbey hayden

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity, striving to close the gap in end-of-life care and make sure that everyone gets the care and support they need. The problem that the UK faces today is that one in four people reach the end of their lives without the palliative care that they need. This lack of support can bring unnecessary hardship, from financial strain to a loss of dignity at an already vulnerable time. And the issue is only becoming more urgent. As people live longer and face increasingly complex health conditions, demand for end-of-life care continues to rise. By 2048, the need for these services is expected to grow by as much as 25%, with those in disadvantaged and marginalised communities most likely to be left without the support they deserve.

This year, the Durham University Charity Fashion Show (DUCFS) is partnering with Marie Curie, as Durham students come together with a shared determination to help change this reality for others. As Europe’s largest and most profitable student-led fundraiser, DUCFS continues to inspire positive societal and behavioural change through the vehicle of creative philanthropy. Having raised over £1 million since 2017, every pound raised this year will directly support our chosen charity, as we strive to create a tangible impact within the local northeast community and beyond.

With charity at the heart of our mission, THREAD sought to speak to the families at the centre of Marie Curie’s work, to understand better just how profound its impact can be. Arts & Culture Editor Abbey Hayden sat down with Sara Cunningham and her daughter, Mia, to talk about Sara’s mother, honouring the enduring legacy of a woman whose final years were supported by Marie Curie.

Marie Curie was founded in 1948, the same year the NHS began. Ever since, the two organisations have worked in tandem, together providing not only healthcare but comfort and dignity to people across Britain. For Ruth Bailey, this partnership was not abstract or distant: it became a defining thread of her life. 

Ruth Bailey was an NHS worker, a carer who devoted her life to supporting others in their most vulnerable moments, offering comfort and dignity to the British public when they needed it most. 

When Ruth was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her family knew it was time to seek a reciprocal source of care. After a lifetime spent giving, she deserved to spend the end of her life surrounded by the same compassion, patience, and humanity she had so selflessly offered to others.

Would you like to tell me a little about your mother and what she was like before becoming unwell?

Sara: What a lovely mum she was. Caring was in her DNA… both chosen as her vocation, but also sometimes with no real choice. When she was only eight years old, mum looked after her brothers after school every day until her dad got home in the evening, and later she cared for her parents at home after both had strokes and died within 5 weeks of each other. She looked after my lovely sister Franie, who was so very poorly, and spent the last 6 years caring for my dad with dementia. Nursing was pretty much her whole life.

As a career, she spent her life as a nurse, a Ward Sister, looking after sick children in London. Mum was one of the first two recruited nurses for NHS Direct, which is now the NHS 111 service. She just loved being a granny to Mia and her brother, and a mother-in-law to my husband, Pete. People say that it's inevitable you end up like your mother… I would be proud to be just like her. She was there for my first breath, and thankfully, I was there for her last. We do miss her so very much.

How did Marie Curie first become involved in your grandparents’ care? Was there a moment when you realised how important their support would be?

Mia: While working in the NHS, my grandma was aware of the Marie Curie Trust. My grandparents’ first experience with the charity was when they received support while my aunt was in the hospital with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer. 

When my grandma was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, we decided that we needed extra help as both my parents were working full-time. My grandad had dementia, and my grandma had been trying to take everything on. She was in the middle of treatment herself, and we realised we couldn’t help her fully without getting a little extra help. Marie Curie’s care and understanding of her illness showed us how special it was to be able to have them!

Cancer was a persistent weight in our family, and it was often really difficult to cope. But their care was transformative, not only in looking after the physical side but also in taking on some of the emotional burden. Even taking some of the weight off during those times felt huge. 

What did it mean to have someone there who understood what you were going through? Did their presence allow you to be a family, rather than carers?

Mia: Having someone who understood what my grandma went through was so important. Having spent her life in the NHS, having someone who understood what care actually meant was a top priority for our family. More than just cleaning her wound or helping her to recover, providing emotional warmth and comfort was so important. 

As a nurse, she devoted her life to care, and we truly felt that every nurse we had from Marie Curie was the same. They provided physical and emotional care for my grandma when she returned home and allowed us to see my grandma without spending the whole time worrying about what she would be like when we left her. 

Beyond her illness, it was just crucial to spend time with my granny as a family. The support from Marie Curie allowed us to spend time with the real Ruth, without treating her as a patient the whole time. 

Looking back now, how do you feel about the support your grandparents received?

Mia: Looking back now, the support was immense. My grandad wasn’t able to help with things, and my grandma didn’t want to stress us out (although she never did,) but Marie Curie was so important for letting my grandma recover. She lived a long and mostly healthy 12 years afterwards! Having someone who understood her and the cancer treatment she received made a world of difference, not only to her but to our whole family, in order to ensure a good and long recovery.

Why do you think services like Marie Curie are so important?

Mia: Marie Curie is so important. When it got to the end of my granny’s life, everything turned so quickly; it was difficult. Nurses from Marie Curie can help during the painful periods when it all seems a bit much (especially during palliative care), allowing loved ones to spend their limited time together as a true family. It’s a service that is underfunded, when really, that kind of care and dignity should be provided to all who are struggling with illness. The work they do is incredible; they gave us the opportunity to be a family again.

Everyone will be affected by dying, death and bereavement. That can't be changed, but the end-of-life experience can. All proceeds from THREAD and DUCFS go directly to Marie Curie and DUCFS Lauchpad.

Image Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives via Wikimedia Commons