First published 05 Mar 2013;
Smiling Sharon Heazle and her brood look as if they haven’t got a care in the world – but their beaming faces hide a heartbreaking reality. Mum-of-five Sharon, 42, has terminal cancer and less than a year to live.
Tragically, she knows this Mother’s Day will be the last her children will spend with her. So, with a bit of help from Closer, she’s determined to make it an occasion to remember.
We treated Sharon, her husband Mark, 32, and their children Ellie, 16, Keira, 15, Georgia, 13, Albie, four, and Orla, three, who live in Norfolk, to a trip on the London Eye, afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason and tickets to West End show Wicked – plus Sharon’s dream, a helicopter ride.
Tearfully, she admits: “It’s overwhelming knowing I won’t be here this time next year. I try not to think about it, then it hits me like a brick and takes my breath away. It feels like it’s happening to someone else. It breaks my heart that I’ll never see my kids grow up, marry and have their own children. All I can do is make sure they remember the happy times.
"When i'm not here, I hope they look back and smile"
So doing these amazing things is a dream come true. When I’m not here, I hope they look back and smile.”
Sharon – whose eldest girls are from her first marriage – met husband Mark, a sports communities officer, in 2006. The pair moved in together in 2007 and had Albie a year later, followed by Orla in 2009.
But devastatingly, in March 2012, Sharon, a local authority manager, received the news she had cancerous neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), which had spread from her bowel to her liver and lymph nodes.
She explains: “I’d begun feeling weak and gained weight towards the end of 2011. The doctors put it down to stress at first, but tests revealed I had cancer. The tumours had spread to my bones, so it was inoperable, and the only treatment I could have was a monthly injection of Sandostatin to relieve side effects like hot flushes and diarrhoea.
They couldn’t tell me exactly how long I had left, but said it could be as little as a few months.
“It was crushing. All I could think of was my children, that I couldn’t leave them. Mark was in shock, then refused to talk about it. But there were no tears. He just couldn’t accept it.”
Brave Sharon decided she had to be honest with the older girls, Ellie, Keira and Georgia, and told them a month later.
Sharon recalls: “The girls just went quiet and looked at each other. They wouldn’t believe it at first – they asked how long I had and I explained I didn’t know. I managed to hold myself together, until Georgia said I wouldn’t be able to be a granny to her kids – then I just broke down. The girls didn’t cry, they’re so brave.”
She adds: “Since then, they’ve really made the effort to be with me, but I try to keep things normal – I want them to go out with their mates. They’re so strong, they encourage me to take every day as it comes.”
Understandably, Sharon, who says she feels healthy apart from occasional fatigue, has decided not to tell her younger children.
She says: “They know Mum has been poorly, but ironically now I feel so much better. A couple of weeks ago, I was playing with Albie and he said: ‘Mummy, you really are getting better, aren’t you?’ It broke my heart – they have no clue what’s going to happen. But I don’t think they’d understand.”
Now, Sharon’s doing what she can to create happy memories for her kids. She says: “At Christmas, we used our savings to go to Hong Kong, New Zealand and America. It was the trip of a lifetime. When I thought about Mother’s Day, the horrible feeling that it was my last overwhelmed me. I knew we had to make it special.”
So while Sharon, who has stopped working, will enjoy breakfast in bed and a meal out on Mothering Sunday this week, Closer also arranged some extra treats. The children tucked into cream teas at Fortnum & Mason and had a blast watching Wicked.
Sharon says: “It was a dream day – to see the kids so excited made me unbelievably happy. I never thought I’d be able to go in a helicopter. It was incredible, you feel so free up there, it was as if our troubles were left behind.”
And Sharon is also planning to leave letters and advice for her family in memory boxes.
'I only allow myself to cry when the kids can't see me'
She explains: “I know Mark will need my help when I’m gone. He’s my rock – but he still struggles to talk about the future. There are things I want to help him deal with as the kids get older – like starting school, how to handle bullies… I’m writing it all down, so he’s not alone. For the older girls, I’ve left them advice about boyfriends, getting married, raising their children – stuff only mums know. It’s so hard to accept I’ve got so little time left. I only allow myself to cry when the kids can’t see me.”
Sharon is uncertain when she’ll begin to decline, but wants to stay at home as long as possible.
She adds: “It will be so tough for the kids when I start to deteriorate. That’s why it’s so important now to be the best mum I can be. I’m lucky I have this opportunity to tell Mark and my babies that I love them so very much and always will."