Two small twin girls have been tragically orphaned after their mum died from breast cancer – less than two years after they lost their dad.
Hannah Whitsell lost her battle with breast cancer last week, just months after finding a lump under her arm, the Mirror reports. The 40-year-old mum tried to hide her diagnosis from her 11-year-old twin daughters, Isabelle and Emmy, knowing the family had already suffered a huge loss when the girls lost their dad in May 2023.
Before being given the all-clear on September 12, she underwent months of chemotherapy and had a double mastectomy in August 2024 with full lymph node removal. The family celebrated with relief that she was going to be ok, but the cancer returned just a month later – and this time, it spread to her bones.
Hannah, who grew up in Sutton Coldfield before moving to Tamworth, Staffordshire, was then admitted to the hospital in December with fluid in her lungs and pneumonia, but was able to return home to spend one final Christmas with her girls. She then returned to hospital with complications from pneumonia, the HMPV virus and sepsis – and tragically died on January 14, surrounded by her loved ones.
Her twin daughters thanked her for being their mum as she slipped away, Hannah’s brother Thomas told Birmingham Live. Speaking about his nieces, who are being looked after by Hannah’s dad and his wife, Thomas said: “They loved their mum and didn’t spend more than two days away from Hannah and the only time they did was when she was in hospital, they were obsessed with her.”
Hannah’s ex-partner died of pneumonia in May 2023. Thomas, 33, added: “After losing their dad, Hannah was their world – she was such a good mum. She did everything with them and took them everywhere. Just an active mum like a super mum. They said that they’d been worried about their dad being on his own in heaven, but now mummy was there to look after daddy and vice versa. Hannah was so unlucky with things. It is so rare how aggressive the cancer came back and the treatments just weren’t working. She became extremely frail and then all the complications were horrible to watch.”
Hannah’s mum, Phyllis Whitsell, who was a former nurse of 50 years, helped to care for her daughter at Good Hope Hospital during her last weeks. Thomas said: “The doctors and nurses still did their bit, but my mum never left her side.”
Thomas, who is a dad to two-year-old son Reggie and has a baby girl on the way, says he will always cherish the memory of Hannah at his gender reveal party in October. Speaking about his unborn daughter, he said: “We’re going to give her the middle name Grace, which means Hannah.”
A GoFundMe for the twin’s continued care, launched by Thomas, raised almost £30,000 within days. He said: “The girls were there when she died, which was heartbreaking. They didn’t know she had cancer. They just thought she was poorly. They were sitting by her bedside saying, thank you, mummy, for everything you’ve taught us; thank you for the dinners you’ve made us. It just shows that people do care. Some of the messages have been overwhelming.”
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