After a year-long battle with stage four melanoma skin cancer, 40-year-old Jessi Tucker passed away at St. Peter’s Hospice in Bristol, surrounded by loved ones.
A doctor with a “giant heart and a wonderful soul” who worked gruelling 10-hour days while combating coronavirus has regrettably died.
At the outbreak’s onset, 40-year-old Jessi Tucker was told she had stage three melanoma skin cancer; however, once it progressed to her lungs, her diagnosis was immediately upgraded to stage four, and she was given a prognosis of months to live.
Friends said that her health “deteriorated pretty dramatically in recent weeks and days,” and that she passed away on Friday night at the St. Peter’s Hospice in Bristol.
Jessi, a Bristolian, was working 10-hour shifts on an A&E ward before she was diagnosed with cancer. Five minutes before she got the message from her doctor that the bump on her thigh was cancer, Jessi had called HR to ask for extra hours so she could do more during the epidemic.
A close friend, Caroline Walker, confirmed Jessi’s death yesterday on a GoFundMe page.
The update included the following statement: “I am sorry to share with you some really unfortunate news. The last few weeks and days have seen a rapid decline in Jessi’s health. As a result, she died away peacefully last night at Bristol’s St. Peter’s Hospice. They were all together, and she felt at peace.
Jessi and her family greatly appreciated all of the kind words and financial contributions they received over the past few months.
“Jessi wanted you to know that any outstanding donations from this fundraising will be dispersed across a small selection of her preferred organisations, supporting those causes she held nearest to her heart – healthcare, animals and nature.
“On a more personal level, I want to thank all of you for your love and prayers for my good buddy, a unique individual who influenced more people than we will ever know.”
A number of people turned to the comments on the fundraiser page to voice their sadness upon hearing the news.
Sad news,” one person remarked. I pray for peace for the family and friends of a wonderful doctor who gave her life to helping others and was deeply appreciated by those who knew her. What incredible strength she showed in the face of such adversity. The rest of us can take a cue from her behaviour.
Jessi was diagnosed with cancer in March of last year, and she underwent emergency surgery shortly afterwards because her consultant was closing his clinics.
Since most hospitals and clinics were closed because of the lockdown, she had to take care of removing her own staples after the operation.
Jessi thereafter began immunotherapy, which resulted in gastrointestinal distress, skin discomfort, and arthralgia. Her consultant stopped the medication after she began experiencing side effects in the belief that the tumour had been eradicated during surgery.
The tests proved the melanoma after another tumour formed on her leg within weeks.
The disease had spread to her lungs, and her prognosis, without repeat immunotherapy treatment, was nine months at most.
By June, cancer had progressed to both lungs and the spine, and a close friend, Caroline, said, “she is now focused on spending some quality time with those closest to her in the weeks she has left.”
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