A call no sibling ever wants to receive set one woman on a journey which transformed her life.
Mel de Lange, from Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, has graduated with a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Bristol, following her sister Rebecca’s diagnosis with incurable breast cancer.
The diagnosis inspired a complete change of direction for Ms de Lange, who set out to help improve cancer diagnosis and outcomes through research.
She said: "Becca’s diagnosis changed my perspective.
"It brought home how precious good health is and made me think carefully about how I wanted to spend my career."
At the time of her sister’s diagnosis in 2016, Ms de Lange was running a successful market intelligence agency while raising two young children.
Determined to make a difference, she returned to education in 2018, starting a part-time master’s in health research at the University of Bristol.
She said: "I remember queueing up to register for my Master’s degree with a lot of 18-year-olds and wondering ‘what on earth am I doing here?’"
Just four months into her studies, Rebecca died, but she had taken a keen interest in her sister's work before she passed away.
Ms de Lange said: "Becca was really excited about what I was doing.
"Before she died, the first essay I wrote for my Master’s was on breast cancer, and I wrote it for her.
"I got 90 per cent for it which I think was because I was just so motivated."
After completing her master’s, she secured Wellcome funding to undertake a PhD in Epidemiology at Bristol.
During her doctoral studies, her mother-in-law Janet also died from breast cancer.
She now works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Queen Mary University of London, focused on improving tools to help GPs identify potential cancer cases more quickly.
Ms de Lange said: "Returning to university transformed my life.
"It gave me a career with real purpose and the opportunity to contribute to research that has the potential to improve cancer diagnosis and patient outcomes.
"Looking ahead, I hope to secure funding to carry out research into metastatic breast cancer inspired by the experiences of my sister and mother-in-law and driven by a desire to make a difference for patients and their families."
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