Understand
Felixstowe woman loses both parents to pancreatic cancer and calls for better treatments
Overview
Rebecca Bird, 43, from Felixstowe, is speaking out after losing both of her parents, Beverley and Timothy, to pancreatic cancer. Her mother was diagnosed in 2016 and died in 2021, while her father was diagnosed and passed away in 2025. Bird has expressed fear for her own and her siblings' futures, as well as frustration regarding the limited treatment options and lack of funding for the disease. Charities and health organisations highlight that pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, receiving a small fraction of the UK's cancer research budget.
Key points
- Rebecca Bird lost both her mother, Beverley, and her father, Timothy, to pancreatic cancer.
- Beverley was diagnosed in 2016 after initially being told she had type 2 diabetes, undergoing gruelling treatment before passing away in 2021 at the age of 60.
- Timothy began feeling unwell in 2021, faced similar initial diabetes diagnoses, and was later diagnosed with an inoperable blockage in 2025 before dying at age 65.
- Bird and her siblings are left fearing for their own health and future, while raising awareness of the symptoms and the lack of accessible treatments.
- Pancreatic Cancer UK notes that seven in 10 people with the disease receive no treatment, and the cancer receives about 3% of the UK's cancer research budget.
- The Department for Health and Social Care stated it is piloting a targeted approach using patient records to identify those most at risk of pancreatic cancer.