After both her parents died of cancer, Verity Mutch, 69, says we need to find kinder ways to treat the disease. That is why she has pledged to leave a gift in her Will to fund our groundbreaking research.
“Touch wood, I have never faced a cancer diagnosis myself - but I lost both my parents to cancer.
“My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer and died at the age of 82. The last six months of her life were horrendous; it was awful to see her suffer. My dad had liver cancer, and he died 21 years ago at the age of 76. They never found the primary source of his cancer, but it eventually spread to his brain. He was clearly very unwell but was given steroids which kept the disease somewhat under control. We knew it was only a matter of time, and he passed away three months after it spread.
“I also lost a friend and work colleague to bowel cancer. She was only 55 and went through the most dreadful gruelling treatment. She had so many more years to give.
“Of course everyone dies of something, but you don’t want to see someone suffer a horrible death. Anything we can do to try and make things better must be a good thing. These days, as medical care has improved, we are all living longer. But it is quality of life that is important, not quantity. We need improvements in medical and scientific development, so that more people can get successful cancer treatment. Even if we can’t cure the disease, we need to try to find better, kinder ways of treating it.
“My husband and I moved house in 2024 and decided it would be a good time for us to update our Wills. We don’t have children, so we decided to create Mirror Wills. This meant that when one of us died, everything would be left to the other person, and when the time came for the last one of us to go, everything would be distributed externally.
“I had heard that certain organisations offered Will for Free schemes as I remembered reading about it during Free Wills Month in March. We decided to pick a cause that resonated with us. It was a very easy process – we were sent a pack in the post and then just filled in a form and took it to our solicitor. Even if we’d had children, I would still have wanted to leave a gift in my Will to charity to benefit future generations.
“Cancer research is so important. Without it, we won’t make any progress for patients. Cancer treatments have moved on so much in the last 30 years. But things will only improve further if we have a better understanding of the disease. Watching my mum go through months of hell and pain was extremely difficult. I would like people like her, who face the worst kind of diagnosis, to have treatments available to them that are less harsh and less invasive, enabling them to enjoy a better quality of life for longer.
“Cancer is a word that no one wants to hear. But I like the idea that after I have gone, I will still be able to do something that will help in the fight against it.”
Find out more about leaving a gift in your Will to the ICR and order your free copy of our legacy guide.
Leave a legacy of hope