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Teacher humbled by school's cancer support

Lee BottomleyStoke-on-Trent
News imageOther A woman in a chair, wearing a mask, gives a thumbs up sign to the camera. She wears a grey top, has long brown hair past her shoulders and a black hairband. Over her lap is a white sheet and she sits in a dark purple, padded chair. Other
Dani Thomas said she felt humbled by the efforts her school was making to support her

A teacher who found a suspected chest infection was breast cancer says she is "loved and humbled" after staff and pupils rallied around her.

Dani Thomas, who has worked at St Mary's C of E Primary in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, since she qualified in 2013, was diagnosed after a colleague encouraged her to go the GP following chest pain in September.

Staff and students are now organising a range of fundraising events to support the 35-year-old mother-of-two as she remains off work, having had surgery and next set to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Thomas described her place of work as "somewhere where everybody genuinely just looks out for each other".

Before her diagnosis, she said she could count on one hand the number of times she had been to her GP, and would not have booked an appointment for the pain if she had not been pushed.

"Your whole world just collapses in front of your eyes," she said of being told she had cancer after a hospital scan.

News imageOther A man in glasses, woman with long dark hair and two young girls are all looking at the camera and smiling. The young girls both have blonde hair to their shoulders.Other
Dani Thomas, seen with husband Mike and their two daughters, said she was now set to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy

In November, Thomas had a mastectomy and lymph nodes removed and will now have chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.

"This was all caught by chance and I think that is why cancer is so scary, because I feel so well in myself," she said.

News imageSt Mary's CE Primary School A woman is sat at a table, with a book in front of her, and three children to her left and two to her right. The woman has light-coloured hair flicked to one side. The children wear blue and yellow uniformsSt Mary's CE Primary School
Head teacher Clare Morton is going to shave her hair off in support of her colleague

Head teacher of St Mary's, Clare Morton, said the year three teacher brightened any room she walked into, describing her as one of the most positive people you could ever meet.

"I get asked daily by the children 'when is Mrs Thomas is coming back, how is Mrs Thomas?'" she said, adding that parents and staff were also chasing updates on her recovery.

Planned fundraising events to support the family include 20 staff climbing Yr Wyddfa - Snowdon -, a silent disco in school and a soak a teacher event.

Morton is also having her own hair shaved off on 27 February.

"Me losing my hair for two or three months, it will grow back, it's nothing compared to what Dani and her family are going through," she said.

"Hopefully we can raise a bit more money for Dani so she can go and have a wonderful summer with her family."

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