By Father Seán Coyle

Bernadette Mimura, known as ‘Milai,’ a Filipina living in Ingleby Barwick in the north of England, was faced with a stark choice last year. Aged 37, she discovered she had breast cancer. At the time she was one month pregnant. The doctors told her that they could cure her – but that the drugs they wanted to use would be very strong and affect the baby.

Milai chose not to take the treatment so that she could save her child. The doctors were able to give her a low dosage of chemotherapy to suppress the cancer while she was pregnant. However, when her calcium levels shot up they had to induce labor. Though his birth was two months premature, Nathan came into the world a healthy child. 

This courageous young woman had the joy of seeing her son baptized by Father Alan Sheridan , her parish priest. Shortly after, she had to go into a hospice, where she died. The parishioners of Ingleby Barwick were deeply moved by the witness of Milai and wanted her remains to be buried in the Philippines and to help her three children by her Japanese husband who had divorced here, Nanam, 11, Mika, seven and five-year-old Miko. 

‘We began the appeal as a parish because we felt it helped us to develop our part in a universal Church and helped us to look beyond our own little corner,’ Father Sheridan wrote me in December. ‘However, one of my parishioners is a reporter for a local paper and the story then hit the front page of the local press and TV and was picked up nationally and internationally. The good news is that the publicity has helped us almost to reach our target and the Philippine Government has contributed a grant as well. Therefore Milai's body will return to the Philippines on Friday (16 December) after a funeral service here.’

The appeal target was £3,700 (approximately P370,000). Canon Sheridan added, ‘The story has touched many people locally, nationally and globally - we have received support from Australia and the USA. Although it involves a very sad death and a terrible choice, it has proved extremely life-affirming over here. The support has ranged from quite large donations of £100 to small ones of £5 from pensioners. Truly humbling to be in the middle of it and very little to do with me. I am so glad we can help Adam and the children. Adam Taylor is the 33-year-old father of Nathan. He understood very clearly why Milai made the choice that she did. ‘She was a devout Catholic and had a very strong faith. She could not terminate the pregnancy, she just did not want to do that. It was a tough decision but she knew from the beginning that she was not going to give up on Nathan,’ he said. ‘There was never any doubt in her mind.’ Adam described Bernadette as ‘very positive right through her illness. She was always very bubbly and full of energy. She always put her family first.’

Department of Health figures cited by the British Broadcasting Corporation show that there were 185,400 abortions in England and Wales in 2004 - a rise of 2.1 percent from 181,600 in 2003 and about 5.3 percent from 176,000 in 2002. The sacrifice of Bernadette Mimura is all the more remarkable in the face of that. May she rest in peace.