Singing the life of an inspirational woman

8:00am Friday 29th February 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

WORLD-renowned paediatrician and expert in the field of twins and multiple births, Dr Elizabeth Bryan, has died at the age of 65, almost three years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

It was a diagnosis that led Dr Bryan, of Vowchurch, to write a memoir of her family's life in the shadow of cancer', Singing the Life, published last year.

She had decided to write the book, having recognised that, as a doctor and one of three sisters who had inherited the BRCA1 gene, she was uniquely placed "as a carer of cancer sufferers and a sufferer myself", to write about her experiences.

Carriers of the BRCA1 gene have an 80% chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer and Dr Bryan's youngest sister, Bernadette, died of ovarian cancer and her other sister Felicity developed breast cancer.

Having taken the preventative measures of having her ovaries removed and undergoing a double mastectomy, After finishing her training at Scarborough Hospital, Dr Bryan started work as a paediatrician in York, where she became interested in the problems facing the parents of twins and triplets.

She started the first Twins Club, now a nationwide network of support groups, and was a founder of the Twins and Multiple Births Association - at her wedding to writer Ronald Higgins in 1978, 25 pairs of twins formed a guard of honour outside the church.

Dr Bryan, who died on February 21, is survived by her husband, Ronald Higgins.

*For full story see this week's Hereford Times.