Amy Smith: 'Courageous, beautiful' Dronfield mum loses battle with cancer despite 'last gamble' treatment

A heartbroken husband has paid tribute to his “courageous and beautiful” wife after she lost her battle against cancer.

Amy Smith, aged 42, passed away in Ashgate Hospice, four months after raising £60,000 through public donations for immunotherapy treatment.

She had previously gone through three courses of chemotherapy, which failed to stop a tumour in her spine growing.

Her husband Jon, who lives at Dronfield Woodhouse, said: “Amy will be in my heart forever. She was the love of my life. She was a very loving person with a lovable personality. Everybody that met her loved her.”

Jon and Amy married in 2010 after living on the same road in Dronfield in the early 2000s. They welcomed daughter Isla into the world 11 years ago.

Jon said: “Amy was a beautiful mum and wife.”

Amy battled a spinal tumour three times from 2016. Jon said: “Before she got ill, I knew she was tough, but I was astounded by her.

"When she left Northern General Hospital’s spinal injuries department after the tumour was debulked in 2017, her consultant told her she would never walk again. Amy’s answer to that was ‘I’ll prove you wrong’.

"She then met an amazing physiotherapist at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, called James Hart, and with his hard work and Amy’s courage, they surpassed what I thought was possible.”

Five years later, Amy was walking around Meadowhall when her legs and arms began to feel numb. The cancer in her spine had returned. By Christmas 2023, an MRI scan showed the tumour had increased in size and there was no NHS treatment to halt its growth.

Given only weeks to live, 42-year-old Amy launched her fund-raising appeal for immunotherapy treatment in Germany. She told the Derbyshire Times in January that she wasn’t willing to give up and, within five days of its launch, her appeal had smashed her £60,000 target.

However, Jon said: “She didn’t make it to Germany, unfortunately, as she became too ill, but she did get two different immunotherapy treatments sent over, which she could take here, at the same time as spending time with her family.

"There is some of the GoFundMe money left, which at this stage I want to donate to Ashgate Hospice. I will ask on Amy’s Instagram what people think should be done with it.

“Amy was in Ashgate for the last six weeks as her pain got too much to control at home. She spent her last few days sleeping, really. She died very peacefully and we can’t thank Ashgate Hospice enough for this.” 

Jon and Amy’s parents, Carol and Jon, were by her bedside when she died in the early hours of May 17. Amy also leaves a sister, Lyndsay.

Four years ago, Amy opened an aesthetics and skin care clinic called The White Retreat, which Jon had built for her during lockdown.

He said: “She loved all aspects of it and was always studying more techniques. The White Retreat is still running and we have an amazing clinician there doing all the treatments. I’m behind the scenes, but have my own company to run.”