Family of Cwmbran woman who died six days after a brain cancer diagnosis talk of tragedy to raise awareness

Stephanie Edmonds, who lived in Cwmbran, was only 44-years-old when she died at the Royal Gwent Hospital in April from three inoperable cancerous masses on her brain.

Sister-in-law Hannah Thomas said that because of how rapid the deterioration was, the family did not have chance "to come to terms with the diagnosis".

(Mark, Stephanie and William Edmonds.)

“She had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer but was given the all clear,” said Mrs Thomas, who lives in St Mary’s Road, Nash, Newport.

“When we were told it had returned in April, we were stunned.

“The brain cancer had been secondary and originally came from the breast and lymph node.

“It is hard to put into words how we felt. It did not register.

“Still now we cannot believe what happened.

“We did not have time to come to terms with it because Steph died six days after being told she had brain cancer.

“She died one day after her son’s sixth birthday.”

(Stephanie Edmonds.)

She added: “Just days before, Steph and her family had come from Cwmbran to Mum's house for Mother’s Day. We were all in Mum’s front garden having a great time.

“But after that she started to feel unwell. She would be feeling dizzy and her speech became slurred.”

Mrs Edmonds left behind her husband Mark (known as Benji) and one son, William.

A few days before the young mum's death, Mrs Thomas decided to set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to raise funds for her brother and nephew, as well as to generate awareness of cancer and the need to obtain life insurance.

The GoFundMe page and other received donations have so far totalled more than £10,000.

She said: “They had no life cover in place to cover the mortgage and other things which would have allowed Benji to have a break from work.

“It has been really tough for Benji. He now has to work around school time because he is a single parent.

“There are a lot of people out there who will think what happened to Steph could not happen to us. But you just don’t know. You need to be aware of the symptoms of cancer.

“These funds will allow Benji and William to go forward.

“We need to raise awareness of cancer and life insurance.”

More than 100 people gathered at Woodlands Community Primary School to walk a combined 1,000,000 steps in memory of Mrs Edmonds.

Caretaker Steve Eyers described the event as "brilliant", saying: "I knew Stephanie because I would see her dropping off her son.

"I helped to arrange it because we wanted to remember her.

"We all walked 5k."

To visit the fundraising page, click here gofundme.com/f/our-steph