Young mother who lost childhood sweetheart to lung cancer in drive to inspire young people to give up smoking

A young mother who lost her childhood sweetheart to lung cancer within months of diagnosis hopes to inspire young people to give up smoking. 

Dad-of-two Mitul Bhudia, of Harrow, died in January aged just 37. 

His wife Monika, 38, today told how her world fell apart last September when her happy City worker husband of 11 years was told he had lung cancer. 

The couple had met as 17-year-olds in sixth form and married in 2007 before having daughters Amiya, 10 and Vianna, six.   

The shock diagnosis came after Mr Bhudia, a light smoker, developed a persistent cough in August last year which he initially put down to a “smokers’ cough”. He was prescribed antibiotics but the symptoms did not go away. 

A month later he began to lose weight, developed night sweats and found a golf-ball sized lump on his neck. Apart from the lump, the symptoms indicated Tuberculosis – a bacterial infection – but following a biopsy and tests a consultant at Northwick Park Hospital diagnosed lung cancer, and the started chemotherapy straight away.

Mrs Bhudia, a HR manager, said: “My world fell apart. 

“My first reaction was what and how are we going to tell our children. Cancer silenced us. I felt broken at the thought of losing my husband, father of my children – my soul mate. It was really hard. Both our girls needed their daddy, and I don’t think they completely understood why he had to take lots of medicine. We both tried to maintain some normality for them.”

But by December last year Mr Bhudia had developed breathing problems and doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his right lung, lymph nodes, neck, windpipe and bones. He died within weeks on January 30, after being discharged from hospital following a course of palliative radiotherapy. 

Mrs Bhudia and her daughters resolved to keep his memory alive as much as they could. 

Since January the trio have teamed up with wider family and friends to complete fun runs and drives in droves, raising a total of £28,000 towards Macmillan because the charity were there to provide “crucial” advice and support when the family were facing the worst.

Mrs Bhudia said: “I enjoy running, and I remember my husband saying we owe them [MacMillan] a blank cheque. He said after he got through this he was going to get out his chequebook and write a black cheque out to them, so that’s my motivation – he would have wanted to raise  

“He is still with us, and it feels like he is there doing these things. The love everyone still has for him, it feels like he’s still alive.”

The mother also hopes to raise awareness of young cancer in young people through her fundraising.

She said: “I was completely shocked – they told me the stats and that this hardly ever happens to anyone under the age of 70. Even with smokers it happens when you are much older. You have a few cigarettes or an e-cig and you never think it’s going to happen to you. Even shisha has an impact and people just don’t realise.

“I’m not trying to preach to people, I just want to raise awareness that we thought we would not be affected, and we were.” 

Donate to Mitul Bhudia’s fund here https://macmillan.tributefunds.com/mitul-bhudia 

Join a World’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan tomorrow  morning – find out more here: https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk