Blog

Jul 6, 2024, 11:25

Claudia’s story of battle with sarcoma

Filipa Costa, Clinical Marketing Manager at Elekta, shared on LinkedIn:

“July is Sarcoma Awareness Month, and I want to share the story of a very close friend I lost last year in November. We met more than 10 years ago in Lisbon but it was when we both moved to London in 2015 that we really connected.

Cláudia was smart, full of energy and an amazing person to be with. She was always so positive and she would always be ready to help anyone.

In September 2022, 3 months after this picture was taken, and just a few weeks after marrying the love of her life, Cláudia felt an intense sharp pain in her back. Doctors discovered a large mass in her lungs.

It was a very rare type of sarcoma that couldn’t be surgically removed due to its size and proximity to critical organs. Advanced radiation therapy wasn’t an option, leaving standard chemotherapy as the only treatment.

The sarcoma spread rapidly and only 14 months after her diagnosis she passed away. It is still hard to believe. She was only 34!

Could more have been done? Could Cláudia still be with us if more research and development had been invested in studying and understanding sarcomas? Why aren’t there more specialized treatments available?

Ever since Cláudia passed away, my friend Leonor has been doing a running challenge to raise awareness about sarcoma and gather funds for Sarcoma UK, a charity that helps people with sarcomas and that also funds research into sarcomas and new treatments.

She has now completed 322 km out of her 500 km target (65%).

I encourage you to take some moments of your time to learn about sarcomas, these deadly and still unknown tumours, and to support this cause by donating to Leonor’s fundraiser using the following link.

The funds will go directly to Sarcoma UK.

£1 Could cover the cost of 10 texts to the support line.
£10 Could be used to buy microscope slides to look at cells in minute detail.
£30 Could fund one hour of use of a high-powered laboratory microscope.

Follow her progress here.”

sarcoma