IT’S not often you meet someone who changes the way you look at life but Cherry Robinson was such a person. I was gutted to learn she had died at her home in Osier Close, Worcester, on October 15 following a five-year battle with secondary cancers.

One of the last things she ever said to me was that she hoped she would live long enough to see the new breast unit open.

She and others worked so hard for it.

The unit is a dream many still share.

I always hoped I would see her there, smiling when the ribbon was cut.

Compassionate but also tough, Cherry was diagnosed with breast cancer 16 years ago and had lived with the shadow of this terrible illness ever since.

But in public she always met adversity with a courageous smile, with warmth and good humour.

She had more cause to complain than most of us but it was just not in her nature.

She did not whinge about the unfairness of the hand she had been dealt. She did not let herself become embittered. She never gave up.

Even while fighting for her life she was a source of strength and comfort to others battling the illness as chairperson of the Worcester Cancer Support Group.

With her at the helm the group pledged £18,000 towards the Jacqui Heal Room, a space where people diagnosed with breast cancer could be given bad news in privacy and with their dignity and comfort sacrosanct.

The group remains involved in other projects and schemes to enhance the care and support available to those battling the illness, be they women or men.

Your Worcester News has supported the creation of the life-saving unit at 220 Newtown Road at Worcestershire Royal Hospital from the very start (since the launch in October 2009) and if anything good can come out of Cherry’s death it is that we must keep on fighting for this unit so others live to experience the benefits.

If we can show a fraction of Cherry’s courage, commitment and bottle we can make it happen together.

We owe her and all the others who have fought for this that much.

Because the sooner this unit is up and running, the sooner patients can experience the benefits of the best care, all under one roof in a unit designed and tailor-made for them.

Cherry, a meticulous organiser and a passionate campaigner, is one of those people who has genuinely made a difference to others.

She has made life better for those who come after her. And how many of us, hand on heart, can say that?