Telford mother dies of lung cancer - despite being non-smoker

Zoe Daffurn, from Dawley, fought against the disease for six months but it spread to her bones and she died at the Severn Hospice, in Telford, on April 19.

She had been married to Christian since 2006 and leaves behind two children, Louis, five, and Connie, two.

Her father, Nicholas Davis, said today the whole family had been left devastated.

He said: "She was just 36 years old when she died from terminal lung cancer.

"Having never smoked, this came as quite a surprise when Zoe was diagnosed back in November last year.

"The cancer had spread to her bones, which became the cause of all her pain during the last six months."

Mrs Daffurn went to St Leonard's Primary School, in Bridgnorth, and then to the town's Endowed School, where her family said she was a popular and well-loved student.

Mr Davis said: "She enjoyed her roles in school drama productions and adventuring, while obtaining her Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

"She then went on to Bridgnorth College to complete her NNEB Childcare, followed by a HND in Childhood Studies.

"Since the age of 10, Zoe wanted to work with children and went on to work in nurseries in Claverley and Brewood, before starting work at her most recent job at Old Hall School, in Wrekin College.

"Losing Zoe has left the family devastated."

According to Cancer Research UK, lung cancer is the second most common form of the disease in Britain, with 41,400 people diagnosed every year.

About 10 per cent of these cases occur in people who have never smoked.

In 2010 about 18,900 women were diagnosed with the disease.

Earlier this week Robert Peston, the BBC's Business Editor, told how he dealt with the grief of losing his wife to lung cancer, despite the fact that she, too, had never smoked.

Film-maker and writer Sian Busby died in September after battling cancer for five years – little over a month after specialists said there was nothing more they could do for her.

Mr Peston said he dealt with his grief after her death by transcribing his late wife's final novel, A Commonplace Killing, which she had written out by hand.

In an interview he described how in the days after her death he sat with tears in his eyes typing out her words in an effort to "keep talking to her".

During her final days in a Marie Curie Hospital, Mr Peston slept in her room on a mattress on the floor: "She was never once hysterical; she was dignified and calm throughout the worsening nightmare," he said.

He called her "the woman I loved for most of my conscious life".

The couple had originally met as teens and rekindled their friendship to begin a relationship in their mid-30s.

Mrs Daffurn's funeral was held yesterday in St Nicholas' Church in Oldbury, near Bridgnorth.

Mourners were asked to give donations in aid of the Severn Hospice in Telford.

Mrs Daffurn is survived by her husband, Christian, two children, her parents, Penny and Nicholas, and her sister, Lyndsey.