Jess was passionate about doing the ‘right thing’. She was, without question, gentle and kind, but she was also full of integrity and determination.
Despite a protracted illness and escalating symptoms, she was 'reassured' by her GP practice that she had Long Covid (despite no positive test) and that she was 'too young for cancer'.
Jess was forced to resort to a private self-referral to see a specialist. Tragically, it was too late and she died just 3 weeks later. She was 27 years old.
Jess' symptoms were a ‘red flag’ and should have triggered concern.
During her time in hospital, Jess talked a lot about raising awareness and changing things for others.
We have created the Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust as Jess’ legacy. Our mission is to improve GP awareness and diagnosis of cancer.
Currently only 54% of cancers are diagnosed at stage 1 or 2. It is imperative this improves for everyone, including young people. According to Cancer Research UK, if bowel cancer is diagnosed at Stage 1, there is 90% chance of survival for five years or more following diagnosis. If diagnosed at Stage 4, this is reduced to just 10%.
The weight of responsibility in achieving earlier diagnosis lies in the hands of General Practice Doctors.
Working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, and The Royal College of GPs, we plan to fund the provision of training materials to be used within Primary Care. We will begin with a written pamphlet introducing the Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust. In addition to highlighting some generic ‘red flag’ symptoms, the pamphlet will also document Jess' case (she was diagnosed with Stage 4 CUP cancer). The pamphlet will also include a link to our website and an online questionnaire inviting GPs to state what they think would have helped in diagnosing Jess’ cancer earlier. We will use the information collected to guide us as to the best actions to take when producing future resources (created and vetted by oncological experts).
In the long term, we hope to raise enough money for the charity to fund an online teaching programme to help raise awareness and improve earlier diagnosis within the profession. Again, this programme will be devised, and appropriately vetted and authorised by oncological experts.
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