By Sara Baalla

Copyright glasgowlive

Lorraine Kelly comforted a grieving mum after her daughter’s “tough” battle with cancer.

27-year-old Jessica Brady passed away from stage four cancer after reaching out to her doctor more than 20 times in an attempt to secure a diagnosis.

Jess’s mum, Andrea, featured on ITV’s Lorraine on Tuesday (September 23) after launching a new initiative called Jess’s Rule to assist future patients in receiving proper diagnoses.

Medical practitioners in England are being encouraged to “think again” if they encounter an unwell patient more three times without being able to identify a diagnosis, or discover their symptoms are deteriorating.

Speaking on Lorraine, Andrea looked back on her daughter’s “tough” struggle, saying: “I feel huge love for my Jess, who was absolutely the driving force and inspiration behind this,” reports the Express.

“I just feel that this is for Jess and all the countless other young people that we’ve heard their stories since we lost Jess in December of 2020.”

Andrea continued to describe how Jess’s symptoms were “increasingly escalating” during the five months she attempted to contact her GP.

“She was developing weight loss, night sweats, vomiting. I think all patients when they go to their GP practice want to be reassured, and when somebody is saying to you, ‘It’s okay, you’re fine’, you feel relieved for a while,” she said.

“But then, Jess knew that things weren’t right. She knew her own body… She was very proactive and organised and she wanted to look after herself, but it was increasingly difficult to advocate for herself as she became more and more poorly. It was really tough for her.”

Jess’s parents soon took her to a private doctor, who recognised “almost instantly” that something was wrong with Jess.

“Jess was admitted into hospital straight from outpatients and she stayed in the same room for just over three weeks, and devastatingly, she died just before Christmas,” Andrea revealed.

A visibly moved Lorraine then said: “Oh Andrea, so so tough. And yet, you took all of that grief and you poured it into making sure it doesn’t happen to anybody else. And here we are, it’s been long, hard fight, but you’ve done it for your daughter.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting added: “It’s going to make a massive difference… I can’t honestly say, Andrea, if I were in your shoes, that I would have had it in me to do what you guys have done.”

Lorraine went on to commend Andrea for creating change in the name of her daughter, adding: “It’s remarkable… You should be so proud of yourself for all that you’ve achieved. It’s amazing.”

Andrea concluded: “I do believe [that lives will be saved]. I just hope that this is not just for today… This is moving forward forever.”

Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1 at 9am

If you would like more information or support about living with cancer or treatment, visit Macmillan Cancer Support or Stand Up to Cancer