Megan Kelly was diagnosed with stage 4 Ewing sarcoma at the age of 18, following two years of poor health. Despite undergoing gruelling treatment, she passed away 18 months later in December 2020. In her memory, her family and closest friends set up Megan’s Rose of Hope, a charity dedicated to making a difference in the fight against childhood cancer.
Megan first became ill in September 2017 when she was 16. It began with a virus that lasted over three weeks. But over the following months, she was constantly unwell, diagnosed with various illnesses including glandular fever, scarlet fever, urine infections and hypothermia. She visited numerous doctors. Then, in June 2019, her GP felt a mass on her kidney and suspected cancer.
Eventually, after six weeks of appointments, scans and biopsies, Megan was diagnosed with stage 4 soft cell Ewing sarcoma, which had probably been there for two years. The cancer had already spread to her lungs and lymph nodes. She was told she would never be able to have children and that she only had a 30 per cent chance of surviving more than five years.
‘Megan never felt sorry for herself’
Despite this, Megan was feisty, strong and resilient. Of course, there were dark days, but by and large, she was very positive. She never felt sorry for herself.
She started chemo a few days after her diagnosis. Because her cancer was stage 4, it was the most brutal regime, lasting nine months. Just before Christmas, she was told the secondary cancer in her lungs had gone, and her family was thrilled.
In February 2020, Megan had surgery to remove her left kidney and the tumour that was on it. It was a long operation, and she spent four days in ICU, before continuing chemo. She started to become very weak, required a feeding tube and could no longer walk. It was an extremely frightening time.
In her heart, Megan’s mum, Jane, knew at this point that she was not going to make it, but her husband still had a lot of hope.
In June, Megan was told she was in remission and for the next couple of months, she was very hopeful.
But, in August, she started being sick and her routine scan was brought forward. It revealed the worst news: Megan’s cancer was back and there was nothing else that could be done for her.
Megan passed away at home on 9 December 2020. She was 19.
She had always been incredibly kind and generous, and in her short life had raised thousands of pounds for charity. During the few months that she was in remission, she talked about doing a skydive to raise funds to help other young people dealing with cancer. She also wanted to organise a rave in the summer of 2021. These events both went ahead, despite Megan not being there.
To honour her, family and friends set up Megan’s Rose of Hope in January 2022 to raise money to support young cancer patients between the ages of 11 and 25.
‘We need to develop kinder, better treatments for children with cancer.’
Megan’s Rose of Hope is very generously supporting the cancer research of Professor Janet Shipley, Group Leader of Sarcoma Molecular Pathology at the ICR.
“Research into childhood cancer is underfunded compared to adults, because relatively few children are diagnosed with cancer compared to the adult population. We need to develop kinder, better treatments for children with cancer to be able to save more lives.” – Jane, Megan’s mum
