Mum, 33, diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer weeks after giving birth to twins

A mum who found a cancerous lump two days after giving birth to twin girls is fundraising for vital cash to look after family.

Laura Howard, 33, was diagnosed with advanced metastatic bowel cancer in August, just three weeks after giving birth to her daughters Florence and Meadow.

Laura found a lump on her side two days after giving birth, which was originally thought to be a muscular tear.

Less than three weeks later, medics broke the news that she had bowel cancer and the disease has spread to Laura’s liver in the form of a tumour.

Since her diagnosis last month, the tumour has grown to 15cm by 12cm in size, and now protrudes out of her stomach making it difficult to cradle her girls.

Laura’s self-employed husband Stephen is now having to take time off work to care for his family as his wife remains in constant agony.

‘Struggles to hold her babies’

Laura’s sister Sam Corbridge, who lives in Hove, East Sussex, said: “Laura is already in so much pain from the tumours that most of the time she’s struggling to even hold her babies.

“They live far away from Laura’s family, and although they get amazing support from Stephen’s parents and brother, Stephen is not able to work and is at home permanently to take care of the twins and Laura.

“He is self-employed so he is unable to earn any money to pay for their mortgage, bills and food.”

Laura is now set to have three months of chemotherapy to reduce the tumour size, followed by a number of operations to try and remove it.

‘She’s inspiring’

Sam added: “Throughout all of this, Laura has been an inspiration.

“She is unshakeably positive and motivated, constantly researching anything that has proven to help others through similar diagnoses, such as change in diets or alternative medicines.

“But honestly they need some help.

“They’re in a financial crisis, on top of everything else they’re facing day-to-day.”

Laura has just started maternity leave but the family’s pay is not covering their outgoings.

Her two sisters, Sam and Jade, have set up a GoFundMe page dedicated to raising £15,000 to pay towards childcare bills and getting Laura back on her feet again.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day