It is with a heavy heart that Wales Cancer Biobank mourns the recent loss of our dear and highly respected Lay representative, Sue Campbell.

WCB would like to share some poignant messages from those who have worked closely with Sue across the years. We also extend heartfelt condolences to Sue’s family and friends – she will be deeply missed by all at WCB.

 

Sue Campbell, who has died aged 85, was a force of nature. As a PPI representative, her reputation was such that her involvement, which started with the Wales Cancer Bank, expanded both in remit and geography to include the National Cancer Research Institute, University College London, and most recently the EU. Sue’s views, often forthright, on medical research and on healthcare provision were forged from her academic background in zoology, her experiences as a cancer patient herself, and as her late husband, Bill faced his own battle with prostate cancer. She knew from personal experience how good the NHS had been – although even in the halcyon days in the 1990’s there were things to criticise; this made it all the harder for her to see the (as she saw it) decline in so many aspects, despite the many obvious advances in oncology research and practice. She was a staunch supporter of cancer research, from laboratory to clinical trials, and her enormous contribution as a PPI representative encompassed this whole spectrum. Some cancer research infrastructures in Wales, particularly the Wales Cancer Biobank, might not have survived at all without Sue’s expressions of unreserved support, and she robustly defended the causes in which she believed. Indeed, she often expressed the view that, as the saying goes, too many funders and administrators “knew the price of everything but the value of nothing”. For us, as researchers and medical practitioners, Sue encompassed the reasons why we come to work every day. She grounded us in the fundamentals of what matters to the patients of today and what matters for the patients of tomorrow. Her contribution was immense; we were so lucky to have her, and she will be sorely missed. – Prof Malcolm Mason, WCB Director (ret.)

 

Goodbye Sue

Bob Hall, WCB LLEG Chair

Let’s say goodbye to Sue, someone we all knew

She will always be missed for everything she tried to do

She was such a lady, one of a kind

Someone to keep in mind

Her heart was good and she would always help if she thought she could .

It’s so sad she has gone and we could not say so long .

We didn’t know she was unwell

So there was no one we could tell

So rest in peace my dear friend

And be assured although you have gone

You will never be forgotten

The memories of who you where will always last

Even though you have passed

We will always be your friends

And remember to the end

The good times we all had

And to lose you is so sad