Mum dies of common killer she wrongly thought was 'just trapped wind and bloating'

A heartbroken son has described the devastation of losing his mum who thought she was suffering with "trapped wind" and "bloating" but was actually dying of ovarian cancer.

Sam Foley's "whole world came crashing down" when his mum and "best friend" nursery teacher Miranda Foley passed away aged 56. When she suffered bloating, she went to see her GP and referrals were made to hospital.

The brave mother-of-two and her husband Edward, also 56, initially battled on despite the bombshell to support and protect Sam, then aged 15, and his sister Annabel, then aged 20.

However, Miranda's condition spread and deteriorated after a lengthy journey with the illness and she died, leaving her family devastated. Ovarian cancer typically affects women aged 75 and over – but Sam now wants to remind people it can target anyone, despite how "unfair" it feels.

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Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, grieving Sam said: "On that day, I lost my best friend and my mum, my whole world came crashing down. It just felt so unfair. It hit us all very hard. My dad had lost the mother to his children as well. You hear the word 'cancer' and your world stops. Nothing can prepare you for that day of losing someone. She was such a gentle, wonderful woman so that feeling of it being so unfair was hard. She was a healthy woman, she didn't drink or smoke or anything. It was a stressful time."

Miranda continued to work as a nursery teacher after her diagnosis, even continuing as a childminder when the cancer worsened. She had been healthy with no serious issues until she experienced bloating in the summer of 2018. This was a symptom of ovarian cancer,