T HE heartfelt tributes that have been paid to Dot Griffiths are fitting for one of North Staffordshire's most remarkable women. The death of the cancer campaigner has stunned a community which had marvelled at her inner strength and determination. What started out as a fight to prolong her own life became a nationwide campaign on behalf of all breast cancer sufferers. And throughout it all, she maintained a dignity which inspired women across this area. Dot was first diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 1999 and given just 18 months to live. Having initially been denied Herceptin – the drug which clinical trials revealed prolonged the life span of women in her condition – she won her fight in 2001.

I t emerged four years later, that the drug also prevented tumours from returning when treating women with early-stage breast cancer. As a result, Dot and women with that diagnosis launched the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign. Health officials in North Staffordshire initially refused to fund the drug, but the momentum of Dot's campaign was unstoppable. And after she handed in a 35,000-name petition to Downing Street in November 2005, they buckled under the pressure. By understanding the benefits of the drug and its use in other countries, Dot asked questions which health officials nationally and locally could not answer. She rightly received a host of accolades in the wake of the successful campaign. And she will always be remembered for her legacy to the thousands of women in the UK who are struck down each year with breast cancer.