Kent mum 'perfectly fit and healthy' dies 10 weeks after Inca Trail hike

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A 49-year-old mum who was 'perfectly fit and healthy' tragically died from bowel cancer just 10 weeks after returning from an adventure in Peru. For Katya Batchelor, 2023 was an exciting year of travel and adventure.

She chased the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle, she learned to scuba dive and she visited Canada and Italy with her family, while also holding down a job as a lawyer.

Feeling fit and healthy, in March this year, she took on the challenge of hiking the Inca Trail at Machu Picchu in Peru, with husband Duncan. But while she looked a picture of health, unbeknown to her, a cancer was growing inside her.

READ MORE:Antiques Road Trip expert puts head in hands as she's left on verge of tears after loss

READ MORE:Serious contamination in Co-op food as 'do not eat' warning issued

Immediately after returning from Peru, Katya felt unwell and visited the doctor. Tests revealed she had bowel cancer, which had already progressed to stage four. She died 10 weeks later, aged 49.

The severity and suddenness of her illness has left her family in shock. Duncan said: “Katya was perfectly fit and healthy – annoyingly healthy. She had an excellent diet, she had no bad habits, she exercised – she did everything right. It feels ironic that she, of all people, would get bowel cancer.”

Determined to create a positive out of their loss, Duncan, the couple’s daughter Anna and son Sasha, who live in Tonbridge, Kent, decided to fundraise for Cancer Research UK and raise awareness about a cancer which took Katya so unexpectedly.

They have created ‘Team Katya’ and signed up to run the Tonbridge half marathon this Sunday, September 29th. The team is made up of around 20 family and friends, some of whom are travelling from abroad to take part in Katya’s honour.

Duncan, 50, also a lawyer, said: “Katya was a very special, very accomplished, cultured and kind person. She didn’t want to die at 49 – she had so much more life to look forward to. Our lives have changed incredibly suddenly but we want to use our experience to make a difference for other people - achieve some good and try to help others be protected from the same fate.”

Since announcing their running challenge, the family has already raised a staggering £100,000 but they would love to raise more to fund even more research. Sadly, Anna, 21, who is in her final year at Cambridge University, has dislocated her knee and had to pull out of the event. But she is managing Team Katya instead.

Doctors can’t be certain how long the cancer was growing inside Katya, but believe it was up to a year. “When they did the first scan, it was immediately obvious to the doctors,” said Duncan. “There were multiple tumours in her bowel and elsewhere. It was clearly advanced. But we had no idea.”

Anna said: “Mum had no family history of cancer and none of the classic symptoms of bowel cancer – nothing until the diagnosis. The fact that she could do all the activity she had just done, shows how otherwise healthy she was.” Katya was started on chemotherapy treatment, using the Folfirinox regime. Cancer Research UK funded early research and clinical trials that played a key role in developing the chemotherapy drugs Katya was treated with.

Initially the chemotherapy did its job, shrinking the tumours. But the cancer had already done too much damage and doctors could not save her.

Katya, was born Ekaterina Nikolaevna Belyaeva in Siberia in the Soviet Union, in 1975, to scientist parents with a grandfather who was an internationally-renowned geneticist. The family moved to the UK in 1991 and Katya managed to pass her A levels in a foreign language with flying colours. Clearly very bright, she was advised to apply to Oxford University and went on to read history and Russian at Lady Margaret Hall. After travelling to Italy - a country she fell in love with - she then studied law in London, where she met Duncan. Anna was born in London in 2003 in London and Sasha while the family lived and worked in Munich in 2006. To give the children a settled schooling, the family returned to England in 2009 and settled in Tonbridge.

Sasha, 18, who is about to start at the London School of Economics, said: “My mum was very kind – someone I was very proud to call my mother. She was my greatest friend.

“There are various levels of running experience in Team Katya, although the half marathon will still be a challenge for all of us, emotionally and physically. We’re so glad to have to have so many friends running with us to support us.”

Duncan added: “Katya was a talented and special person. She was kind and selfless and appreciated real and meaningful things – the people she loved, her home, her garden, her friends.

“She has left many memories to treasure. And she would want us to get the message out there that bowel cancer doesn’t just affect older people – it can happen to younger people too. And to watch out for signs that something isn't right - don't wait until you fit the expected demographic. And, although Katya was too young to have it, to encourage people to take the NHS bowel cancer screening test when it's offered.

“All the family is concerned that bowel cancer seems to be increasing in younger people. We’d love to see bowel cancer screening tests offered at a younger age than 50.”

As well as their fundraising run, the family is supporting Cancer Research UK’s Stand Up to Cancer campaign, a joint venture between the charity and Channel 4, which speeds up life-saving research by taking developments in the lab and accelerating them into new tests and treatments for patients.

Rachel Orritt, Health Information Manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Bowel cancer is more common in older age groups but can still happen to younger people. Globally there has been a small increase in rates of early onset cancer, affecting those 25-49. There isn’t a clear answer as to what’s causing the rise. Population grown accounts for part of it, but other factors, including genetics, might also play a role.

“Around 4 in 10 cancers can be prevented, but in some cases there's nothing that could have been avoided to prevent cancer from developing, and in most cases it's not possible to identify a cause for an individual's cancer. Whatever your age, remember screening is for people without symptoms. If you notice anything unusual for you, don’t put it off, tell your doctor as soon as possible.

“While in some cases there’s nothing that could have been done to prevent cancer from developing, we do know that around four in ten cancers can be prevented. Keeping a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and stopping smoking are all great ways to reduce the risk of bowel cancer.

To help the family raise more money for further research, visit: Team Katya for CRUK. Or to find out more about Cancer Research UK’s work visit: Stand Up to Cancer.