WATCH Standing ovation for Tessa Jowell after emotional cancer speech in Lords
2 min read
Former Labour Tessa Jowell got a rare standing ovation in the House of Lords today after she made an emotional speech about her battle with brain cancer.
The highly-respected peer called for better access to alternative cancer treatments and said doctors should emulate the “community of love” created by cancer victims.
She said she was “not afraid” but was “fearful that this new and important approach may be put into the ‘too difficult’ box”.
And as she finished her speech to a packed Upper Chamber, peers got to their feet to applaud in a heartfelt tribute.
Baroness Jowell - appearing frail and wearing a bandana - wept at the highly-charged moment.
The former Olympics minister was diagnosed last year with a highly-aggressive tumour known as a glioblastoma.
In her speech, she urged fellow peers to support the Eliminate Cancer Initiative to improve cancer survival under the NHS, which is the worst in Western Europe.
And she said brain surgery centres should have better access to the best treatments - including a special dye that helps surgeons identify tumours.
Baroness Jowell declared: “Seamus Heaney’s last words were: do not be afraid. I am not afraid, but I am fearful that this new and important approach may be put into the ‘too difficult’ box.
“But I also have such great hope. So many cancer patients collaborate and support each other every day. They create that community of love and determination wherever they find each other.
“All we now ask is that doctors and health systems learn to do the same. Learn from each other.
“In the end, what gives a life meaning is not only how it is lived, but how it draws to a close.
“I hope this debate will give hope to other cancer patients like me. So that we can live well with cancer, not just be dying of it. All of us. For longer.”
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