Laindon: Cancer ordeal of rail victim's mum

Maureen Kavanagh was diagnosed almost exactly a year to the day after 29-year-old Peter died in the Southall rail smash.

She said today: "I've just finished a course of chemotherapy, which made me feel really nauseous.

"I have found the easiest way to cope is to lie down and sleep.

"I'm having trouble walking far and I'm breathing quite badly but it's just something I have to get through.

"Hopefully, there is light at the end of the tunnel now. I have to have more tests, including a body scan, then a couple of operations before I can get back to normal. I'm definitely not me at the moment."

Peter, a at London Fleet Street solicitors Freshfields, was close to his parents. Only moments before the train crashed in September 1997 he was on the phone to his mum, telling her "I love you."

Maureen, of Somerset Road, Laindon, said: "This year was worse. I think it is because reality has sunk in.

"My cancer was diagnosed exactly a year after we lost Peter. I had had a mammogram just before Peter died and it was fine. The consultant thinks I fell ill because of the stress."

Maureen was already off work, recovering from an accident, when the news came through about Peter.

Her husband was so distressed he took four months off work at the Ford in Dagenham.

Since Peter's death, she has organised a bereavement group at St Therese's Church, Langdon Hills.

She said: "I don't talk about Peter much, but I encourage the other members to talk about how they feel and how life is going on. It's not all about praying, it's about being able to have a good cry and a chat."

She added: "Peter was a good boy and I don't want him forgotten. I would rather have had Peter for only 29 years than not at all. I say that my cancer is an inconvenience, but losing Peter was the end of my life."

Close - son Peter

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