Laura Dawson, 44, from London, had always been a devoted mother and loving wife.
But in March 2024, her life took a devastating turn when she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer — months after experiencing bloating and fatigue that she initially dismissed as hormonal changes from perimenopause.
”Absolutely gut-wrenching”
One night, her stomach pain became so severe that she “could not move” and was rushed to the hospital. Surgeons removed a bowel obstruction, and a biopsy confirmed the heartbreaking truth.
Stage 3 cancer indicates the disease had spread to nearby lymph nodes.
After six months of chemotherapy, an August scan seemed promising, but just one month later, Laura learned the cancer had returned and spread further.
“In September, we got the news that the cancer was back and it had spread,” her husband Ben Dawson, 49, recalled in an interview with Daily Mail.
“That was absolutely gut-wrenching.”
By May 2025, Laura made the difficult decision to stop chemotherapy, choosing instead to spend her remaining time surrounded by family and friends.
Transferred to in-hospice care
Thanks to St Christopher’s Hospice, she could remain at home as long as possible, enjoying her family’s company “in a comfortable and dignified way.”
Two weeks later, she was transferred to in-hospice care, where she received compassionate support in her final days.
Ben reflected on the care she received:
“Then, during the nearly three weeks she stayed at the hospice, she was so well looked after—and everyone there was so compassionate and so caring—that it made Laura’s last few days so good for her. We’re eternally grateful that such a positive experience could come from such a negative situation.”
Despite the heartbreak of her diagnosis, Laura found an unexpected gift in facing her mortality.
She described her final weeks as “some of the happiest days” of her life.
“As a society, we shy away from the process of dying,” she said.
“By doing that, we reinforce negative ideas around death. People think death is always going to be painful and traumatic, but it doesn’t have to be. Deep down, we all know we are going to die. Cancer has forced me to acknowledge it. Since then I’ve lived more fully than I’ve ever done, and that has been a gift.”
Ben and Laura remained honest with their sons, Jacob, 17, and Theo, 15, throughout her illness.
“We’ve always told them what the possible outcomes are — because we want to prepare them for what might happen and we want them to be able to trust what we’re saying,” Ben explained. “That’s definitely helped us throughout.”
She also used her final months to create lasting memories for her family, writing letters, organizing keepsakes, and gifting her sons sentimental watches.
“She bought me one when we got engaged and now the boys have one too,” Ben said. “That way, on special occasions, like their weddings, they can look at it and know she’s with them and thought about that day.”
Reflecting on their life together, Ben described Laura as “generous to a fault, the kind of person who is friends with someone after a minute of chatting to them. She’s just a really, really nice person.”
When Laura was just 18, she experienced a devastating loss—her mother passed away suddenly after being placed on life support.
“Us children weren’t supported and that grief consumed me throughout my early adulthood, spilled into every aspect of my life,” Laura told Brandsmiths.
Years later, Laura faced death from a very different perspective. A close friend was in hospice care, and being able to talk openly with him and support him through his final days gave her a sense of peace she had never known.
Her last words
These two profoundly different experiences, the trauma of losing her mother and the compassion of walking alongside a dying friend, deeply shaped Laura’s approach to her own life and, ultimately, how she chose to face her final days.
In the end, Laura Dawson passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 29, 2025, at St Christopher’s Hospice.
Though her life was tragically cut short, she faced her final days with courage, love, and a remarkable ability to find joy amid the pain.
”Deep down we all know we are going to die. Cancer has forced me to acknowledge it. Since then I’ve lived more fully that I’ve ever done, and that has been a gift,” she said before passing.
“She could have died on that operating table back in March,” Ben said.
“Life can be cut short unexpectedly and suddenly. But knowing Laura was going to die meant everyone had the opportunity to say what they wanted to say to her. When it comes to the funeral, I won’t have to stand up there and say all those things I wished I had said to her. Because I told her, and so did the kids. Obviously, I’d prefer to keep her—and have her for the rest of my life. But she died knowing she is loved and that we will miss her endlessly. That is a blessing.”
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