Navigating the future

Ed Smith will be rowing across the Atlantic in memory of his brave wife, Anna, keeping her legacy alive for their young daughter

- Sarah Rodi

“Anna and I met on a Firearms Police course in 2010,” says Ed. “It was serious from the start, and we moved in together three years later, in a lovely little Berkshire village called Stanford Dingley. We spent our time going for countryside walks and exploring local pubs. We moved to a bigger place in Thatcham in 2015, and Anna left the police and got a new job in IT recruitment, while I transferred to the Metropolitan Police. Shortly afterwards, our daughter, Alba, was born. Everything was perfect, or so I thought.”

In May 2017, Anna began to complain of tummy pains. “She never moaned about anything, so I knew something wasn’t right,” says Ed. “She went for a check-up and had some scans, and that’s when the doctors found a shadow on her liver.”

At just 37 years old, new mum Anna was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which had spread to her liver and lungs.

“The doctors said she had four years to live. We were devastated,” says Ed. “But even then Anna was so brave. ‘At least I’ll get to see Alba go to school,’ she told me.” At that point, Alba was just six months old.

Anna opted to have chemotherapy, and the first round helped. But the two rounds plus the radiotherapy that followed sadly didn’t do anything. Throughout her treatment, Anna was helped by the charity Victoria’s Promise, which supports and empowers young women and their families through cancer and beyond. They offer support services outside of the hospital, such as beauty therapy and counselling, wig funding, childminding and more.