London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Tweet reconnects family with Bristol nurses who saved girl’s life

Tweet reconnects family with Bristol nurses who saved girl’s life

Father’s pride as teenager starts university in city where, as a one-year-old, she was treated for leukaemia
When Martin Dorey tweeted about his daughter Maggie moving into her new university halls in Bristol that overlook where she had been treated for cancer as a baby, he did not expect what followed. Since then his post has been shared thousands of times, he has appeared on Radio 4, and even reconnected with the nurses who helped save Maggie’s life 17 years ago.

He says he would have been more apprehensive if he had known, as a lot of attention has focused on his daughter as she starts university. However, he admits he understands the interest as the story of Maggie going “full circle” – returning to the city where she spent six months having chemotherapy for leukaemia – is an amazing one of survival.

Maggie was one when the family, from Bude, Cornwall, received a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia. “Her mother was pregnant at the time, so Charlie, my second daughter, was born in Bristol in the same hospital [where Maggie was treated],” Martin said. His younger child was named after the nurses who saved Maggie’s life after she had a severe allergic reaction to the chemotherapy.

One of these nurses got in touch in response to the tweet. “She said she remembered Maggie and had no idea that Charlie was named after her [Charlotte] and Charlie [the other nurse],” he said. “We really appreciate what they did – it’s remarkable really. That is the power of Twitter.”

Jamie Cargill, a clinical lead nurse who also worked at the hospital and cared for Maggie, tweeted: “I remember her so well … It’s such a delight to see her grow and succeed.”

Martin said Maggie, now 18, had been overwhelmed by the attention as she started her first year studying fine art. Since sharing his family’s story, he has received messages from all over the country, with parents who lost children to cancer wishing him and Maggie well. “In any other country, we would have lost everything … but because of the NHS and what it is and does, Maggie wanted for nothing in hospital.”

He said the family had been particularly supported by a charity called Young Lives Vs Cancer, which offers free places for relatives to stay when a child is receiving cancer treatment.

“Now she has come full circle and is back where she started and it is good, it is quite cathartic,” he said. “So many people have got in touch, and some parents of those kids who did not make it have been so generous in saying that they wish Maggie luck. That is a big thing to do … It’s a good news story because she survived, but let’s not forget those who did not.

He said seeing her leave home had been “emotional”, as it is for any parent. “It’s a child going off to university and starting a new life,” he said. He did not want her cancer story to define her.

“I am incredibly proud of her and her sister. Maggie was working as a lifeguard this summer and really achieved amazing stuff, and apart from a few scars, you would not know she had had cancer. It is an emotional time, but also really positive, as she is off and having a good time, and I am really happy for her.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×