A woman who noticed her skin turn yellow received a devastating diagnosis of a rare form of cancer soon after.
Sami Dabbagh, who lives in St Helens, Liverpool, said his aunt Sahar Saleh had noticed her skin “turn yellow” before the then 59-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
While Sahar was given the all clear in 2017, he cancer returned, and she died in March 2021, aged 64.
Sami told the Livepool Echo that the change in Sahar’s skin colour was what triggered the diagnosis.
"What triggered the diagnosis is she was jaundiced, so her skin was essentially going yellow, and that is what led her to go to the doctors, this was around six years ago,” he said.
"She was having treatment for cancerous tumours but at that point there was an opportunity to do quite a risky operation called a Whipple procedure, which involved taking part of the organs affected by the tumours out."
The procedure has a survival rate of between 20 and 25%, but Sahar's operation was successful.
This allowed the keen cyclist to live a "healthy and active" life for several years.
Sami added: "It was like she had a new lease on life, it sounds a bit cheesy but it was certainly like a second chance at life.
"She was only in her 50s around this time, and she was generally a very bubbly, eccentric, active person."
To remember his aunt, and also help support the charity which provided "amazing" care for her, Sami is running four marathons across four different countries this year.
Sami will raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The charity provided vital care for his aunt during her illness, as well as for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
