Mother who beat leukaemia to have three children now faces terminal breast cancer and won't see them grow up

When Cathryn Wyllie battled leukaemia at the age of 14, she was told she would never be a mother.
She had suffered a rare form of the disease and the chemotherapy treatment needed to save her was so aggressive that doctors told her it would leave her infertile.
Against all the odds she fell pregnant and gave birth to three children, Bonnie, nine, Caul, three and Beau, 11 months old.

Making memories: Cathryn Wyllie with her husband Paul, son Caul (left), stepson Brandon (right) baby Beau and Bonnie

But when she was pregnant with her youngest child she discovered a lump in her breast - and doctors have recently diagnosed her with terminal breast cancer.
Mrs Wyllie, 29, will not live to see her children grow up as the cancer has already spread to her spine and bones.


So she is putting together a scrapbook of their lives as a family - for them to have as they grow up without her.


Mrs Wyllie said: ‘The two cancers have been completely unrelated, so doctors have said I have just been incredibly unlucky.
‘I fought the leukaemia and beat that - and it was just a miracle that I was able to give birth to my three children, which doctors said would never happen.
’But then to have breast cancer as well, which isn’t unrelated, has been hard to accept.
‘Now I’m just making the most of the time I have left with my miracle children - and enjoying every moment I have with them.’
Mrs Wyllie was just 14 when she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Unsuspecting: Cathryn Wyllie with Beau and Bonnie on the day before she was diagnosed with breast cancer

She said: ‘At first the doctors thought I had glandular fever but then bruises quickly started appearing all over my body.
‘I was exhausted all the time and one day someone tapped me on the arm at school and the next day my whole arm was black and blue.
‘Mum took me to the doctors several times and each time I was given antibiotics as they thought it was an infection.
‘But then eventually it was diagnosed as leukaemia. It was such a shock and the doctors only gave me a 50 per cent chance of survival.’

Kathryn and Paul on their wedding day: Kathryn thought she wouldn't be able to have children after intensive treatment for leukaemia as a teenager

Mrs Wyllie, who now lives in Southampton with her husband Paul and her stepson Brandon, 15,  was taken straight to Southampton Hospital where she underwent gruelling chemotherapy treatment.
She said: ‘The treatment lasted for six months and was very aggressive. I lost all my hair and doctors told me the treatment would leave me infertile.
‘As a teenager I just accepted this and I just concentrated on getting better.’
Then amazingly when Mrs Wyllie was 19 she fell pregnant with her daughter Bonnie.
She said: ‘I had thought I would never be able to fall pregnant, so when I discovered I was expecting I was just in shock. But I was thrilled too, as I had thought I would never be a mum.
‘The doctors just couldn’t believe it. After all the aggressive treatment I’d had, they never expected me ever to fall pregnant.’
When Mrs Wyllie then fell pregnant a further twice, she amazed doctors each time.
She gave birth to son Caul in November 2007, and daughter Beau in June last year.
But when she was eight months pregnant with Beau she discovered a lump in her left breast.

She said: ‘In the back of my mind I was always worried that the cancer would come back so I was always checking myself for bruises.
‘But when I felt the lump initially I wasn’t worried as I thought it was just a block milk duct because I was pregnant.’
But the lump didn’t disappear so when Beau was three months old, Mrs Wyllie went to see her GP and was referred for a biopsy and a mammogram.

Cathryn, pictured with Bonnie, thought her breast lump was a blocked milk duct

Then doctors broke the devastating news to her that she had breast cancer - completely unrelated to the cancer she had previously fought as a teenager.
She said: ‘I was completely devastated and so was Paul. The doctors couldn’t explain it. They tested me for a gene which can lead to recurring cancers, but that came back negative, so they have just said I have been incredibly unlucky.
‘It is so rare they have never seen anyone with two cancers like this, by the age of 28. They have told me I’m an enigma.’
Tests have shown that the cancer has already spread into her bones and spine, and the doctors have told her there is no cure.
She is on the drug Herceptin to try and prolong her life as much as possible, but is putting the scrapbook together for her children to remember her by.
She said: ‘I’ve told Bonnie and Brandon that I’ve got cancer and they are very upset but the other two are too young to understand.
‘That's why I’m putting the scrapbook together for them, and Paul and I are making videos too, so they have something to remember me by.
‘But I’m just determined to enjoy every day that I have left with them. I defied all the odds to be a mother, so I’m making the most of every moment. And I’m not going to give up without a fight.’