Staff at Bishop Auckland College are organising a charity football match to raise funds for a former colleague and her children after a tragic loss.
Catherine Shaw and the children were left without their devoted husband and father Stevie Johnston when he sadly died in January of metastatic skin cancer aged 44.
The former Royal Signals Officer, who served in the Army for 25 years in numerous conflicts around the world, retired in April 2022.
But just eight months later the couple, who had married during the Covid pandemic, received the devastating diagnosis that Stevie had developed skin cancer in his tonsil.
In January 2023, Stevie started a gruelling six-week regime of daily radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Three-and-half months later, a PET scan showed the treatment had not been successful and doctors were also concerned about the lymph nodes in his neck.
By this stage Stevie had already lost both his ability to swallow and more than four stones in weight. Surgery was offered at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough, but the family first sought a second opinion at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Specialists carried out surgery there in early September last year; however scans taken a month later showed the cancer had spread throughout the lymphatic system to two other areas where there were now small tumours.
Treatment options had been exhausted as Stevie couldn’t have any further radiotherapy, hadn’t responded to chemotherapy and a further operation wasn’t viable. In November, Stevie had a stoma and feeding tube fitted straight to his stomach as he would eventually be unable to swallow even the liquid diet he had been managing.
Catherine cared for her husband at home with the support of district nurses, Macmillan Cancer Support, Butterwick Hospice in Bishop Auckland and St Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham.
In early December Stevie became very poorly and was admitted to hospital. A CT scan showed the cancer had spread to both lungs, bones, hips, and pelvis and had broken his back and ribs. He was fitted with a 24-hour syringe driver and moved to Butterwick Hospice two days later.
The hospice managed the pain, and he was able to come back to the family home in Toft Hill for Christmas. The family genuinely made every memory they could including breakfast with Santa, a Santa horse ride and enjoyed Christmas Day together.
Sadly, Stevie declined rapidly and Catherine rang his family and best friends in his native Glasgow who all made the journey to their home, where Stevie passed away peacefully on January 14.
Catherine, who was a Student Support Worker at the college and is now employed in the Public Health team at Darlington Council, paid tribute to Stevie. She said: “He was a father, protector and my absolute Prince Charming. He devoted his life to the Army and his family and is missed every minute of every day.”
Andrew Dixon, Head of Sport at the college, has arranged the staff v students match at Bishop Auckland FC’s Heritage Park stadium, which kicks off at 6.30pm on Friday May 3, to raise funds for a family holiday.
He said: “Having worked closely with Catherine at the college I know how much she has always done for other people, whether it’s leading on fundraising for her children’s football teams or running stalls at her children’s schools to raise monies for charities.
“Staff at the college thought this is the time where we can do something for Catherine and her children. As a parent of children of a similar age to Catherine’s I can’t imagine how much of a difficult period this has been for her and the children and it is our aim to raise money to give them a trip to remember.
“In true Catherine style she asked if she could donate a portion of any money raised to Butterwick Hospice as their help and support during this difficult time has been so beneficial to her family. All are welcome to come along and support the event.”
Donations can be made on the Go Fund Me page Andrew has set up: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-send-catherine-her-kids-away-after-their-sad-loss
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
