|
 |
 | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Thursday, 21 February, 2002, 22:46 GMT Charles opens 'Amanda Unit'  The Prince had promised to officially open the centre The Prince of Wales has fulfilled old promises by meeting a cancer campaigner and opening a new cystic fibrosis unit named after a Merseyside woman. Charles gave his word on a visit to Liverpool two years ago that he would perform the official ceremony at the 'Amanda unit' at the city's Cardiothoracic Centre. And last year, he promised to meet a woman who after contracting liver cancer went on to set up a research fund and helped raise more than �180,000. On Thursday the Prince kept his promises as he visited two hospitals on Merseyside. Personal reply He first heard from Sheila Scott, from Cronton, Widnes, a year ago when she wrote to him asking for support for the Liver Cancer Appeal at University Hospital, Aintree in Liverpool. To her surprise, Mrs Scott, 70, received a personal reply from the Prince promising to come to meet her and see the work the fund does whenever he was next in the city. After undergoing surgery at the hands of consultant Andrew Wu, Mrs Scott dedicated herself to repaying the man, and the hospital, she credits with saving her life. In the process she has not only persuaded Prince Charles to support the fund, she has led walkers across Morecambe Bay and even talked Mr Wu into spending a night in a police cell to raise money for the fund she helped set up.
"I wrote to him and told him about the work of the charity and how much I owed my life to Mr Wu," she said. "I had a letter back from his secretary and thought that was the end of it but last year I got a letter from Prince Charles promising he would come and meet us. "Three weeks ago we had a surprise phone call saying he could come and visit today." Following a tour of the Liver Cancer ward, the Prince was then taken to the Cardiothoracic Centre which he first visited two years ago. At the time, the Prince told the family of the late Amanda Roberts he would perform the official opening ceremony when it was complete. The 26-year-old, who lost her battle with the disease in 1998 just six weeks after marrying fiance Ian, spent much of her time at the centre on an adult men's ward. 'Great tribute' Her plight prompted the launch of a successful �750,000 appeal, which has funded the Cardiothoracic Centre's new 12-bedroom Amanda Unit for young cystic fibrosis sufferers. "This is a great tribute to Amanda and all those who I know have tried so hard to make a real difference since her death," he said. As he left, Amanda Roberts' mother, Cathy Bristow said: "Mandy would have been married four years yesterday. "Instead she was married just six weeks before she died." And Mrs Bristow could not hold back the tears as she said: " I'm so proud of her." | |   See also: Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more England stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend