Woman donating cells for cancer research wants to ‘make the incurable, curable’
13 October, 2023
“The treatment I have received from my consultants, and the nursing staff and all of the hospitals I have attended, of which there are three, has been exemplary.
“And the least I can do is just sign to have my cells taken and used for research.
“You know, it’s very little to give back.”
Ms Torrens has also left a gift in her will to Queen’s University Belfast to help fund the project into adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), the cancer type that she has.
She came across the Patrick G Johnson Centre for Cancer Research (PGJCCR) at Queen’s when she was first undergoing cancer treatment in 2016.
“When you’re sitting on the cancer conveyor belt every day, waiting for the little red light to buzz for your radiation, I found
it more interesting to look at leaflets and pick up things, and then
I saw the Queen’s Research Centre, and I thought ‘I wonder what they do there’,” she said.
After being asked whether she would be interested in donating her own cells taken in biopsies as part of her treatment, Ms Torrens said it was a “no-brainer”.
“I said, sure, you already have my cells and if it’s going to help somebody else later down the line then, yes,” she said.
“And he (Ms Torrens doctor) said ‘you’re ok about signing the form?’ That’s all I had to do it wasn’t costing me anything.
“And that’s the other thing is why I’m compelled to do
what I’m doing today, is we get free treatment.
“I have battled three tumours since 2016.
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