A woman who was given just months to live has told how her cancer diagnosis saved her brother's life.

After her diagnosis in June 2020, Charlotte Brah, from Coventry, Warwickshire, UK, warned her brother Dev Paddem, 37, from Cannock, Staffordshire, about the CDH1 mutation it was discovered she carries – which has been linked to a higher risk of breast and stomach cancer, according to the NHS.

Tests soon revealed that father-of-two Dev was also a carrier of the mutation and that he had cancerous cells in his stomach. He was therefore able to have his entire stomach removed before the cancer developed and, despite some complications, he has been on the path to recovery ever since.

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Sadly, the same is not true for 38-year-old Charlotte, who lives with her husband Gary, 46, and their two daughters Katen, 15, and Mia, 13. Despite initially being told she was getting better, she has now been given weeks or months to live after doctors found the cancer had spread to her brain.

Asked how she feels about saving her brother’s life, Charlotte said: “You don’t really see it that way. You are just thinking, am I going to get through the next day?

“We’ve both got our own children and families – it’s scary. The fact that we’re not both struggling through this brings me peace of mind.

“Knowing that up until now – touch wood – he’s in the all-clear, is a massive comfort to me. I just have to worry about myself now really and fight my own fight.”

She added: “If it was not for my family being here with me day in and day out, I don’t think I would have pulled through. Your family is the best support network you could ever have.”

Charlotte found a lump on her breast on May 20 2020. “I was literally just getting changed one night, took my bra off, gave (my breasts) a rub and thought: ‘Oh, that wasn’t there before, I better get that checked’,” Charlotte said.

“I thought we’ll give it the weekend and then if it’s still there, I’ll go see the doctor, thinking that it was probably just a cist or something. But I was on the phone to my mum and she said: ‘We’ll see the doctor now, you’re not waiting until after the weekend.”

Charlotte saw the doctor the next day, and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in June 2020 and started six months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the chemo did not have the desired effect, so Charlotte underwent surgery to have the cancerous tissue removed from her left breast all together – also known as a lumpectomy.

By April 2021 doctors were confident that Charlotte was on the road to recovery, but because of her young age suggested she should have further tests. They discovered she was carrying a genetic mutation in one of her genes dubbed CDH1, linked to the production of a protein called epithelial cadherin or E-cadherin – which helps cells stick together to form tissue and organs.

Mutations of the CDH1 gene have been associated with a greater risk of stomach and breast cancer, according to the NHS. "I just said to this histology lady (who studies tissue and organs), ‘I’ve heard about this gene, I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about it’ and straightaway she said it could be the reason I had breast cancer,” she said.

“And then it just sort of spiralled from there.” Fearing her brother could be in danger, given the mutation was passed down from their father, she suggested he should also get tested.

Dev, who worked as a plumbing and heating engineer, underwent 82 biopsies, and doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham found cancerous cells in his stomach. “My sister saved my life, because if it was not for her having the test, I would never have done mine,” Dev said.

“Because I wasn’t poorly, I was a full-time working dad seven days a week, just living my day-to-day life as I always have. She said ‘you must do it’, so I did it, and found that I already had active cancer cells in my stomach.

“It was very early stages but it was already there.” His whole stomach was removed, also known as a gastrectomy, which means Dev, who lives with his wife Nicci, 38, and their two children, Kade, 11, and Lilly, 10, can only eat small portions of food.

Charlotte’s recovery had been going well when, a few months later on December 6 2021, she followed in her brother’s footsteps to have her stomach removed, after doctors found cancerous cells. She was given between five and 10 years to live, a prognosis which she said was not easy to come to terms with, but was “acceptable”.

Unfortunately her odds of survival were cut short when, two months ago, she fell ill and was taken to hospital. The cancer cells were now in Charlotte’s brain and a few days later she was told her average life expectancy was now weeks or months.

Charlotte has since moved into the Coventry Myton Hospice and was regularly going home to see her husband and children until a few weeks ago when she started feeling unwell and was rushed to hospital.

To support Charlotte’s campaign visit her GoFundMe page.

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