Dublin woman with cancer says unborn child was sent to save her

Image credit: Kerrie Kennedy via the Irish Independent

A woman in Dublin who was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which later spread to her liver, has said that the unborn child she was carrying was sent to save her after her cancer was discovered during a scan. Sadly, the brave mother later miscarried the baby she says saved her life. 

Kerrie Kennedy from Dublin told the Irish Independent that in 2020 she began to experience increasing abdominal pain. Her partner, Thomas, eventually convinced her to go into A&E on New Year’s Eve 2020, where doctors originally thought she had appendicitis.

“They thought I had appendicitis. Eventually, I was told they needed to remove my appendix. I was in for surgery, but I was told my appendix was knotted and they couldn’t do the surgery. They put me back on antibiotics,” Ms Kennedy said.

Yet, the following summer, Ms Kennedy discovered that she was pregnant with her first child.

“We were trying for a baby and I was delighted when I found out we were pregnant. I got severe pain in my stomach and went to the Rotunda,” she explained.

However, upon receiving the scan, the hospital spotted something and sent her to St James’ where she was told that she would need to undergo a colonoscopy. This was conducted within three weeks, where in October 2021 she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Ms Kennedy sadly lost the baby, but she says that she believes the baby was sent to save her.

“To this day, I think that baby we lost was sent to save me. We unfortunately lost the baby, but it was through that visit to the Rotunda that my bowel cancer journey began,” she said.

After receiving her diagnosis, Ms Kennedy was sent straight into surgery where she had a large portion of her colon removed as well as her appendix.

“I recovered from that surgery quicker than I thought. I just remember the sense of relief to finally be on a treatment pathway because I had spent so long not knowing what was wrong.”

Ms Kennedy was due to start chemotherapy after her surgery, which she said she delayed to go through fertility preservation, however, after she underwent two rounds of chemotherapy, she was told that her cancer had spread to her liver and to a lymph node outside the liver, meaning it was not terminal.

“Hearing the news that my cancer is incurable was very hard. I didn’t really want to participate but my family wanted to talk to my medical team about my life expectancy,” she said. “It’s really hard to be in a room to hear people talk about you like you’re not there, and life after you.”

Throughout this process Ms Kennedy has said that she has received a lot of support from her friends and family, as well as the doctors at St James’, who she credits as the reason she is still alive today. Herself and Thomas got married, which she says they brought forward in case she did not make it.

“But I’m still here and plan to be for as long as I can,” she said.

Ms Kennedy was approved to receive immunotherapy treatment, which is designed to help her immune system to fight back and has been receiving it since January 2023. After almost two years of this treatment, in December 2024, she was told that her cancer has stopped growing and had stabilised, where even the cancer in the lymph node has reduced slightly.

The toughest part of her cancer diagnosis, says Ms Kennedy, was having to tell her nine-year old step-daughter, but expressed a wish to tell her for she felt she would be lying to her otherwise.

“When I’m drained and can’t find the energy to play or have fun, I did not want her to think she had done anything wrong. I feared she was too young to understand, but even when I told her, she was like ‘I already knew’”.

Yet, Ms Kennedy has also shared the difficulty in knowing that she will not have a child herself.

“Coming to terms with not having a child of my own is also very difficult. Hearing of friends and family have their child can be upsetting but I’m also happy for them. It gives me mixed emotions.”

She added that she is sharing her story to support the Irish Cancer Society and to raise awareness about bowel cancer;

“I want what happened to me to never happen to somebody else. Presenting with the pains and symptoms I had at 37/38 years of age, bowel cancer wasn’t on the radar of the people looking after me. Now, here I am in my early 40s with incurable bowel cancer,” she said.

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented saying: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Kennedy’s experience, and hope she continues to receive the necessary treatment for herself so that she can live her life to the fullest. How beautiful that she credits her unborn child for being alive today.”

“Ms Kennedy’s testimony not only tells us the value and beauty of a little unborn child, but it also shows us the importance of valuing and caring for human lives when they are undergoing sickness, especially when it becomes terminal. All lives are valuable, no matter how big or small they are and no matter how long they live for.”