Brave firefighter loses battle with cancer (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Brave firefighter loses battle with cancer

8:54am Wednesday 10th November 2010 in News By Emily Roberts

FAMILY, friends and colleagues attended the funeral of a brave firefighter and nurse who lost his battle with cancer.

Courageous John Taylor, who flew out to Haiti to help in the aftermath of this year’s devastating earthquake, was an inspiration in his final few months of life as he battled leukaemia while campaigning for more people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan Trust Bone Marrow Register, in an attempt to help others in need of a transplant.

Mr Taylor attended donor register clinics, where people were able to register to be a potential bone marrow donor, and he was overwhelmed by the number of those who turned up to support him.

Throughout his illness, the father-of-two remained positive, even when his own original bone marrow transplant donor pulled out and he faced an agonising wait to find another match as his health deteriorated.

The retained Kingsclere firefighter, who worked as a hospital nurse, hoped the transplant he underwent on September 10 would save his life.

But tragically his condition took a turn for the worse and he was flown by air ambulance on October 22 from Hammersmith Hospital in London to St Michael’s Hospice in Basingstoke, so he could be closer to his family. It was here that he died on October 27.

On Monday, people paid their last respects to Mr Taylor, who was 47, at his funeral at St Mary’s Church in Kingsclere.

His wife Mandy, 43, described her husband as “incredibly brave”. She told The Gazette: “All the way through this illness, he has been so brave, as he was in his life. I just can’t begin to say how brave he’s been, and I’m so proud of the way he dealt with everything.”

Only a month ago, The Gazette reported that Mr Taylor was recovering in hospital, and his wife and daughters, Ellie and Molly, were hoping he would soon to be able to return home. Sadly, his body rejected the transplant and his health deteriorated rapidly.

Mrs Taylor, of Coppice Road, Kingsclere, said: “Up to three months after, you don’t know if the transplant has worked. He appeared to be doing well but then he started to go downhill, and went downhill fairly rapidly. It’s all been so horrendous.”

She thanked nurses at the hospice and Hammersmith Hospital for their support, and added: “They were absolutely amazing.”

Mr Taylor was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in March after returning from a mercy mission to Haiti, where he helped to save lives in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the country in January.

John Bonney, chief officer of Hampshire Fire and Rescue, said Mr Taylor’s death was a tragic loss to the service, which he had been part of for nearly 18 years.

He added: “John was a popular and very well-respected colleague with a broad range of operational expertise. Our deepest condolences go to John’s family and the many colleagues who knew and respected him.”

The funeral took place at 1.30pm on Monday and anyone wishing to make a donation in memory of Mr Taylor can do so by cheque to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance or Anthony Nolan Trust, sending the donation c/o Howe and Son Funeral Directors, Bear Hill, Kingsclere, Newbury, RG20 5QA.