Hull mum died just 12 days after receiving devastating cancer diagnosis

A Hull midwife and mum, who had served as a frontline Army nurse, died just 12 days after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Billie-Joe Graham was just 49 when she was told she had stomach cancer. The disease had already spread to her liver, which meant her condition was terminal.

The tireless and dedicated midwife continued to work right up until her passing and she died just two days before she was due to start treatment for her cancer, our sister title Chronicle Live reports. Now, her husband is telling her story to help raise money for the vital work of Cancer Research.

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Billie-Joe grew up in Hull and became an Army nurse. She worked on the frontline during the Gulf War.

On her return to the UK, she met Kenny Graham during a visit to the North East. They married in 1997 and went on to have four children – Toby, 17, Neevie, 25, Jai, 27, and Zak, 29. She had only just become a grandmother when she was given the devastating diagnosis.

Paying tribute to his wife, Kennys said: “She was everything for everybody else but herself. She never wanted anything for herself. She was the most selfless person. We had four kids and it was always the kids first, everything for them, never for her.”

After leaving the Army, Billie-Joe became a midwife. She was working for South Tyneside Healthcare Trust at the time of her death.

In July 2022, Billie-Joe and Kenny had planned to travel to see the Northern Lights to celebrate her forthcoming 50th birthday and their 25th wedding anniversary. Sadly, they never got chance to go.

After suffering stomach pains, which she thought might be gallstones, she visited the doctor. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer on March 29 2022 and passed away on April 10.

‘I love you’

Kenny, 53, said: “She didn’t feel well on the Saturday and I just knew something wasn’t right. An ambulance came and the paramedics carried her out. Her last words were ‘I love you’, which she shouted to the kids as she was getting carried downstairs.”

He added: “Billie didn’t tell any of her friends or family when she was diagnosed with cancer because she didn’t want anyone to know. They kind of knew, they suspected it, but she never told anyone, which was really sad because a lot of people never really got the chance to say goodbye.

“We didn’t tell the kids that she had terminal cancer, we just told them she had cancer. She was due to start treatment on the Monday and then she was taken into hospital on the Saturday night, 12 days after being diagnosed. She wasn’t even on the sick from work.”

Billie-Joe passed away with her family by her side, including her parents who travelled from Hull to be with their daughter. The family have been left heartbroken by their loss and Kenny is now hoping to continue his wife’s legacy of helping others by fundraising for Cancer Research and families in need.

Kenny, who works as a deputy headteacher at Monkwearmouth Academy, in Sunderland, and his friend are now taking part in a charity football match in support of a teenager who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, and had to have his leg amputated.

Kenny said: “We wanted to have somewhere where we could raise some money for her and we could put that towards Cancer Research or a needy family.

“There’s a group of lads that I play football with twice a week and we were going to organise our own charity match. But one of the parents from the school contacted me and she runs a charity family fun day, where it’s the same sort of theme – they raise money for Cancer Research and families who are struggling.”

“Billie-Joe was just the most caring person. She would go out of her way for people, particularly those who had nothing. She would try and get them prams, cots, toys for Christmas, food hampers, clothes. We’d be running round on Christmas Eve dropping food hampers off.”

To donate to Kenny’s fundraiser in memory of Billie-Joe, visit his GoFundMe page here. Money raised will support a family whose child is affected by cancer.

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