Kerry Harvey Succumbs to Pancreatic Cancer

Kerry Harvey, who was the face of a controversial campaign for pancreatic cancer, died just days after getting married to her boyfriend Matthew Biggin. Biggin announced the death of his wife and said that she died on Saturday, 10 months after she was first diagnosed with the cancer. Biggin and Harvey had been dating for more than a year before her diagnosis and married on Wednesday.

Harvey, 24, was the face of Pancreatic Cancer Action charity’s campaign advert and appeared alongside a slogan that read “I wish I had breast cancer”. The campaign attracted criticism from a number of people, with the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) receiving more than 100 complaints. She also received abuse and death threats on social networking site Twitter, but she said that while she understood why some breast cancer charities and patients had been upset with the ad, she did not regret it.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action said that it was deeply saddened by the death of a “brave and courageous young woman”. “Since her diagnosis in April 2013, she devoted a significant amount of her own time trying to raise the profile of the disease that she, like many other pancreatic cancer patients, had not heard of before her diagnosis. Kerry campaigned with selfless vigor and, despite facing criticism, wanted to help others by encouraging earlier diagnosis and attract more funds for research. She said herself, 'Some people have to shout louder and I'm on my rooftop with a megaphone'. We are so grateful to her contribution to our awareness campaign”, the charity's chief executive, Ali Stunt said.

Source-Medindia