Petition calling for action to tackle cancer deaths tops 100,000 signatures

A petition calling for urgent action to prevent thousands of cancer deaths due to treatment delays during the Covid-19 crisis has topped 100,000 signatures within hours of being launched.

It was created by Craig and Mandy Russell just weeks after their daughter Kelly Smith, 31, who had bowel cancer, died during lockdown.

They are "terrified" by estimates from medical experts who fear that in a worst-case scenario there will be 35,000 excess cancer deaths in the UK in the next year.

The Change.org petition, which had gathered more than 130,000 signatures by Sunday afternoon, is part of the family's campaign called Catch Up With Cancer

The Russells say her life was "tragically and dramatically" cut short after delays to her cancer treatment.

Ms Smith, a beautician from Macclesfield, who had a young son died last month.

Ms Smith was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April 2017 but was "fuming" when chemotherapy was stopped in March during the pandemic.

You can find out more details about the petition here