Ann Lewis, centre, with mother Winifred and sister Daphne, who both died of cancer

A Shropshire mother knows about the devastation that cancer can wreak on families after losing her mother, father and sister to the disease.

Ann Lewis has even battled the disease herself after discovering she was suffering from skin cancer 14 years ago.

Brave Mrs Lewis, 72, of Telford, is now fundraising for Macmillan which she says is very dear to her heart because of the work they do.

Tragedy first struck for Mrs Lewis in 1964 when her mother, Winifred Frost, died after battling cancer for 15 years.

Then in 1990 her father Stanley died, aged 87, having suffered stomach cancer.

Then, only last November, her sister Daphne died, aged 81, after suffering skin cancer and having to have a mastectomy.

Mrs Lewis, of Admaston, near Wellington, said: “Everyone in my family had it.

“My mother died of cancer when she was 56 years old, my sister died of cancer, my father had stomach cancer and I had skin cancer.

“I was just married with a little boy when my mother died and it was very traumatic.

“My mother was in hospital and we used to go down every weekend from August until January when she died. My father was distraught. He called her his ‘Phoebe’ because she was the love of his life.

“My sister lived somewhere else so we weren’t together as a family as such, but we were all very upset. There were none of these people there to help, you just went to a big ward and that was it.”

She added: “Then when my sister was dying she had a lot of help.

“Things have changed so much.

“Back then there was no Macmillan or Marie Curie or hospices or anything like that.”

Mrs Lewis’s 61-year-old nephew Michael Newlands has also undergone several operations in an attempt to fight off cancer of the stomach.

“They say one in four family members get it, but everyone in my family has got it so helping a cancer charity is very dear to my heart.”

She added: “I think Macmillan is a very worthwhile cause to support, they do fantastic work.”

The coffee morning, open to the public, is part of the 19th annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan.

Coffee will be served in Admaston House, the village hall on Friday, September 25, from 10am to noon.

There will be various stalls, a raffle, plants and other goods for sale at the event.

By Jason Lavan