A mother of three suffering from bone cancer chose to have her leg amputated rather than aborting her daughter – saving her baby’s life. Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications, said: “This remarkably brave mother is an inspiration, fighting for her daughter’s life while her own body conspired against her.”

Kathleen Osborne, 28, from Cambridgeshire, found out that she was pregnant while fighting bone cancer, which was revealed at the same time as her pregnancy in an MRI scan.

Facing the choice between aborting her baby so she could begin chemotherapy or having her cancerous leg amputated, Kathleen chose the latter – saving the life of her child.

“They gave me a week to make the decision and told me the sooner I had the surgery, the better”, she recalled.

“My friend stayed with me that evening and I just cried a lot. I was really worried, I did a lot of crying, and my friend did a lot of crying with me…

“I thought I’d rather choose to keep my baby and lose my leg. I was probably going to lose my leg anyway so I might as well lose it now and keep my baby.”

She decided in one night.

“I’m happy I made the decision to lose my leg because it gave me my daughter”, Kathleen said.

“Making memories”

Aida-May was born eight weeks after the amputation. Although she is healthy, her mother’s cancer has since been diagnosed as terminal.

Kathleen has battled cancer since the age of 11. Apart from chemotherapy, she has had a kneecap removed and had two metal rods placed in her leg. But the cancer recently found in her lungs is inoperable, doctors say.

Now her “only focus” is “making memories” with her children.

“I don’t know how long I have left, it could be years, it could be just months”, Kathleen reflected.

“I just want to do as many things as they want to do. They [the children] really want to go to Disneyland, which we can’t do yet due to COVID-19, but hopefully we can in the future.”

“Fighting for life”

SPUC’s Mr. Robinson said: “Kathleen is a fighter and, in the face of a terrible choice, chose to fight for her daughter, fighting for life in more ways than one.

“While much of the world is rushing to abort babies and rob them of their right to life, this mother hurried to save her child, knowing what really counted – her unborn, now born and thriving, daughter.

“SPUC wishes them all the best.”