A DEVOTED wife who lost her husband in just months to pancreatic cancer has embarked on a one-woman mission to get as many landmarks in Essex lit up purple to raise awareness of the deadly disease.
It was just a week after her 50th birthday and the couple’s tenth wedding anniversary that Tina Assenheim, from Westcliff, lost her husband Jason.
The shocking diagnosis came after Jason, a big West Ham fan, had complained of backache in November 2017 – although this wasn’t completely uncommon to him while working as a bus driver.
But with the pain failing to ease or go away, even months down the line, it wasn’t until around February 2018 that Jason knew he needed to seek help.
He went to Basildon Hospital for tests to find out what was wrong, but the pain had got so bad he couldn’t wait for the results and went to A&E.
Tina, 53, said: “At first it was thought it was constipation, but after a week and a half he was back again.
“I got a phone call to say he had been told it was a mass and it could potentially be cancer.
“After that we had to go up to the Royal London Hospital and had a biopsy.
“I still remember to this day, it was April 27 2018 he was told it was pancreatic cancer.”
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Jason sadly passed away eight weeks later in June 2018, aged just 47.
Joining the Purple Lights campaign, Tina has launched her mission to get as many buildings and places as possible in the county lit up for World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
So far, Basildon’s A127 sign and Southend’s City Beach Lights will go purple, while Tina says Clacton Pier and The Riverside Leisure Centre in Chelmsford will also take part.
She added: “When he was diagnosed we lived in Basildon, but he couldn’t work and so we had to move in with his mum in Shoebury.
“He went and had his first lot of chemotherapy in May, but after one lot it had already spread to his liver and was so aggressive that we knew he wouldn’t make it.
“It’s now really important to me to raise as much awareness as I can, it could save someone’s life in the future.”
Tina will also be at the Royals Shopping Centre on November 18, raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK.
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