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A young cancer patient who blogged about her experiences with the disease has died at the age of 20.
Hannah Lyson from Liverpool was diagnosed with bowel cancer and secondary cancer of the liver three weeks before she was supposed to travel the United States for three months in May of last year. Upon learning her diagnosis, she turned the blog she had created to document her travels into one following her cancer treatment.
On Sunday, her family announced on her Facebook page that she died peacefully on Saturday morning surrounded by her family.
“Hannah fought so hard to get well but it wasn’t to be,” they wrote. “We are all so proud of her and we will continue her work to raise awareness that you are never too young.”
Ms Lyson regularly updated her 6,000 followers on Facebook with written and video blogs about her treatment, the posts were often candid and insightful with her showing emotion when talking about the most recent updates of her illness. She also shared information about surgery, having a colostomy bag fitted and filmed herself before and after shaving her hair.
In October, she wrote that the cancer was now terminal and said she would be taking a break from blogging. She posted a few minor updates as she continued to receive chemotherapy to attempt to reduce the mass on her liver but earlier this month said she would not be receiving any further chemo.
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Just Giving
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Nephron
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Reuters
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Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK. The NHS estimate almost 9 in 10 cases of bowel cancer occur in people over 60, symptoms include persistent blood in stools, a change in bowel habits and persistent lower abdominal pain, bloating or discomfort.
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