Richard Buchanan’s daughter, Catherine, passed away in 2013 aged just 17. The schoolgirl from Crawfordsburn was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of blood cancer — acute promyelocytic leukaemia — after becoming very ill Just a week after this, she died with her parents by her side. At the time, Catherine was preparing to apply for university in the hopes of becoming a scientist.
Today not only marks World Blood Cancer Day, but it is also Catherine’s birthday. She would have turned 27. Mr Buchanan is now the chairperson of Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI and has spoken about the last moments he and his wife Julie shared with their daughter.
“We hope that she at least was aware of us, but maybe she wasn’t,” he said. “It was an intensely sad time, but felt like a peaceful goodbye. “I saw her blood pressure fall, then her heartbeat fell and then she died, very peacefully, with the colour leaving her lips and face.
We kissed her, cried and said goodbye to our beautiful, clever, talented, wonderful child. And that was it. A piece of each of our hearts has gone.
” Mr Buchanan added that sharing his family’s story with others has been a “great help for dealing with the loss”. “After Catherine passed away, the community rallied round us, which was invaluable,” he said. “Whether it is sharing some of the details around their own personal diagnosis, or remembering someone they’ve lost, we’re calling on the Northern Ireland public to provide a ph.
