Jeanette Toner: Sheffield mum who met Army partner through The Star diagnosed with incurable cancer

On Valentine’s Day 1997, Jeanette Toner, aged 49, saw a letter from a soldier seeking a pen pal.

Five months later they were engaged.

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Her fairytale romance started in writing. Jeanette said: “I thought, oh, it'd be quite nice to have another pen friend. I'd not had one for a little while and obviously I got another letter back from Nick and we just kept writing. Everyone thought it was fate.

“I wrote him a letter every day about what was going on at home, a taste of what was happening in Sheffield and five weeks later he came home on leave.”

Jeanette and Nick quickly fell in love and when marriage bells rang The Star was there to cover it.

“It was really exciting actually,” said Jeannette. “I saw the photographer with his big lens and everything else. All the pictures and cuttings are saved in our album.

“It’s been a great marriage, we’re best friends and get on really well, it’s just lovely. We are going through a little bit of drama at the moment, but there's not much I can do about that. I'm doing all I can to keep going.”

The mum-of-two became unwell last year and was eventually diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer called glioblastoma. She was told she had 12-15 months to live and has since been raising money to extend her life.

“Everybody, the whole community of Burngreave completely got behind it all with things like tuck shops, and we had a massive raffle,” she said. “Instead of doing a Race for Life, the kids did a race for Mrs Toner.”

Throughout her career, Jeanette has helped mothers adapt to life with their babies as a maternity support worker and she now works as a learning mentor at Pybank Primary School. She has been overwhelmed by the amount of support and love from children and staff.

A GoFundMe page set up by Jeanette's friend and colleague Karen Swales has raised £8,382 so far. Some of that money, along with money from her parents, has been used for Jeanette to travel to Munich and receive the first instalment of a life-extending treatment.

The ultimate aim is to raise £250,000 to pay for a new treatment which has been trialled. This is a personalised cancer vaccine made from the patient's own dendritic cells which are a type of immune cell that helps the immune system recognise and attack tumour cells.

“I’m never going to raise that amount but it’d be lovely if I did and could have this treatment,” said Jeanette. “The condition that I've got is incurable. It's a horrible, horrible cancer to have, probably the worst brain cancer you can have.

“There are treatments available but unfortunately because of cost, the NHS can’t cover them.”

Despite the gravity of her diagnosis, Jeanette tries to stay as positive as possible. She said: “I think lots of people who get this diagnosis think it's the end and actually there is an awful lot that you can do to keep going.

“I think positivity is probably one of the main things. It's very hard to keep smiling every day, but I do think it helps if you can try.”

Jeanette loves her work but is now considering retirement due to ill health, having developed a condition called neuropathy which affects the nerves on her left side, causing her mobility issues.

Donations to Jeanette’s GoFundMe appeal can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/team-toner.