Hellomynameis Final Speaker: Vicki Gilbert – Keeping on Keeping On

Last October, at the Hellomynameis Charity Lunch and Business Showcase, Vicki Gilbert closed the event as the final speaker, bringing a powerful and deeply moving end to a day of shared stories.

After nine other Hellomynameis speakers had already shared their experiences, Vicki’s story formed the grand finale, leaving the room quiet, reflective, and deeply affected by what they had heard.

Vicki’s story began in 1992. She was 19 years old and just a couple of months into her second year at Leeds Polytechnic, Carnegie, studying secondary physical education. She was highly active and sporty, regularly playing volleyball, football, and lacrosse. She was one of the founders of the women’s lacrosse team and served as club captain that year.

After consultations, scans, and X-rays, an orthopaedic surgeon told Vicki she had a bone cyst in her tibia, about the size of a conker, and that it was unlikely anything would be done about it. Over the following weeks, however, the pain worsened, and she was eventually admitted to the hospital for an exploratory operation. A few days later, her parents were told bluntly that Vicki had a rare form of bone cancer, that it was terminal, and that she was going to die.

The nurses on the ward were young and incredibly kind. They had spent time chatting and laughing with Vicki about the number of visitors she was getting, joking about selling tickets. It later became clear why they had been so quiet that morning, and why two of them, including the sister, had clearly been crying.

What followed was a whirlwind of activity. Vicki was taken for test after test. Over the next few days, it emerged that there was a treatment protocol for those diagnosed with rare osteosarcoma. The supra-regional centre for bone tumours at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham treated patients like Vicki.

The treatment involved three rounds of chemotherapy, each lasting four days on an intravenous drip, followed by extensive surgery to remove the diseased bone along with bone either side. In effect, this meant a knee replacement, with large sections of bone above and below replaced by metal, muscles repositioned, and tendons reattached. A further three rounds of chemotherapy followed.

The following Monday, Vicki was transferred by ambulance to Cookridge Hospital in Leeds to begin her first chemotherapy session. Just one week after becoming a patient, reduced to a name, a number, and a diagnosis, life was about to become much harder. Treatment continued until the end of March the following year. Vicki lost her hair, lost several stone in weight, and was severely unwell from the toxic drugs. Over an 18-month period, she went to theatre more than ten times.

Approximately a year later, Vicki was told something almost impossible to process. She was one of a number of people who had been wrongly diagnosed. She had never had cancer. All of the treatment had been unnecessary.

By that point, however, the damage was already done. After so many surgeries, and her refusal to stop being active, Vicki was reliant on strong painkillers. The extensive replacement in her right leg was failing, and she was told she would likely lose her leg within ten years. She knew she could not continue living that way. She wanted a life, a career, and children.

Unable to take part in physical activity as she once had, Vicki searched for something she could still do. It was never going to be land-based. Swimming became her focus. She had always been a strong swimmer, earning her mile badge at age nine in a saltwater pool. She swam with the university swim club, as well as Leeds and Bradford swim clubs.

In 1995, she was selected to swim for the Great Britain Disabled Team and competed in Slovakia. She also graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a teaching degree in secondary physical education. While swimming at the long-course nationals in Sheffield in 1996, she met many amputees and realised that amputation might be her only option moving forward.

Vicki researched everything she could. She was referred to the Limb Fitting Centre at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds, where she was told she could still experience severe pain after amputation, including phantom pain, and might not be able to wear a prosthetic limb. Determined to reduce the risk, she accessed research doctors were not aware of and requested an epidural 24 hours before surgery to remove the memory of pain. Although agreed, mistakes with her admission meant this never happened.

On 16 September 1996, Vicki underwent an elective above-knee amputation.

The journey back to walking was long and painful. Prosthetic services within the NHS were limited, involving countless hospital visits, frustration, and tears. In 1999, after six years of legal action, the health authority admitted liability. An interim payment allowed Vicki to access private physiotherapy and properly fitted prosthetic limbs. This proved life-changing. She attended a private limb-fitting centre and, after many appointments and long journeys, eventually learned to jog again, taught by a Paralympic athlete, something she never believed would be possible.

It took eight years from the day her father was advised to seek legal action to finalise compensation. Calculations included housing needs, lifelong prosthetic costs, and the pain and distress experienced by Vicki and her family.

With the help of IVF, Vicki went on to have three children, now aged 14, 19, and 23. However, the effects of the misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment have stayed with her throughout her life. She lives with deafness, tinnitus, peripheral neuropathy, and other long-term conditions.

Last year, Vicki was diagnosed with severe heart failure caused by the toxic chemotherapy she never needed. Her heart was functioning at half the capacity it should. Once again, she found herself fighting for the right treatment while navigating a system where communication often fails. She is now on multiple heart medications every day.

In 2016, Vicki faced another devastating diagnosis: stage three aggressive breast cancer. Her consultant told her it was likely caused by the chemotherapy she had previously endured. The next two years were brutal. She underwent six rounds of intravenous chemotherapy, an extensive mastectomy and reconstruction, and fifteen sessions of radiotherapy.

The eight-hour surgery left her in intensive care, in extreme pain. Complications followed, including fluid collections, wound breakdown, necrotic tissue, and a major skin graft taken from her remaining thigh. The pain was severe, and recovery was slow.

Vicki describes not bouncing back, but crawling back. She returned to Pilates and, remarkably, was selected to swim in an English Channel relay to raise money for Aspire, just one month after completing treatment. She trained for nine months, enduring cold-water swims, harsh conditions, and demanding test swims. During one test, she helped rescue a swimmer suffering from hypothermia before being told to continue swimming herself.

It has now been 33 years since her initial misdiagnosis. Vicki has attended thousands of hospital appointments, undergone countless scans and procedures, and experienced many hospital stays, alongside fear, pain, and frustration.

As she says herself, she is like a Weeble. Knocked down, but always getting back up again. People often describe her as brave or inspirational, but she sees it simply as having no option other than to keep going. Her character, upbringing, values, and even her ADHD all play a part.

Despite everything, Vicki has built a successful career and a wonderful family. There have been many complications along the way, but she is still here, still moving forward, and still keeping on keeping on.

Outside of her personal journey, Vicki has achieved remarkable things. She is a two-time English Channel relay swimmer, has travelled to Africa twice for voluntary work, raised thousands of pounds for charity through sponsored swims, and spent the last eight years as a Beaver Leader, Cub Leader, and now Group Scout Leader. She also set up a flood relief charity following the 2015 Yorkshire floods and has received several awards, including a Yorkshire Choice Award, a Yorkshire Women of Achievement Award, and a Millennium Award.

To read more about Vicki’s adventures, visit www.carryoncancer.blogspot.com

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A Lasting Impact

As we head into 2026, we want to take a moment to thank every single speaker who joined us last October and trusted us with their stories. Each one brought something honest, personal, and deeply human to the Hellomynameis Charity Lunch and Business Showcase.

We feel truly honoured to have hosted such an inspiring event, one that raised close to £1,200 on the raffle for Leeds Hospitals Charity, and one that has stayed with us long after the day itself.

It remains a standout event in our calendar, and even now we find ourselves reliving it, particularly as we reflect on Vicki’s story. Her honesty, determination, and refusal to stop have left a lasting impression, reminding us that resilience is often about continuing to show up, even when the road has been long and difficult.

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