Giving while living to help cancer research – the Lorden family story

11 May 2023

By Rob Clancy, staff writer

Some families are blessed to live lives free from the scourge of cancer … and then there are families like the Lordens. Here, Ann shares the Lorden family story.

Dr Jason Cain in his lab with supporter Mrs Ann Lorden and her granddaughter, Ella, an osteosarcoma survivor. The Lorden family story. — *Dr Jason Cain in his lab with supporter Mrs Ann Lorden and her granddaughter, Ella, an osteosarcoma survivor*

Four members of Ann Lorden’s family have endured their own battles with the dreaded disease – for a start, both Ann and her daughter are breast cancer survivors.

Sadly, Ann’s husband Max succumbed to renal cancer in 2017, not long after their granddaughter Ella was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at just eight years old.

This catalogue of medical challenges has left Ann and her family all too familiar with the realities of cancer, and full of admiration for the medical scientists who devote their lives to finding ways to conquer it.

However, it was when Ella faced her own cancer challenge at such a young age that Ann felt the need to make a difference.

Inspired to improve cancer treatment

It was then that her nursing experience came to the fore, as she realised that little had changed in cancer treatment over several decades.

“Osteosarcoma is a type of cancer that begins in the cells that form bones, and from my experience as a nurse in the 1970s to when Ella had her treatment, the drugs were the same,” says Ann.

This inspired her to do whatever she could to help improve cancer treatments and she chose Dr Jason Cain’s lab at Hudson Institute as an ideal place to start.

“When it comes to rare childhood cancers the pharmaceutical industry rarely invests in treatments and cures, so our role is to fill those gaps,” Dr Cain says.

Helping families facing cancer

“My children and grandchildren could have a lovely holiday with their inheritance after I’ve gone, but there’s more good to be done for kids just like Ella by giving while living.” – Ann Lorden

Ann’s first donation was in Max’s memory and in his name. That was back in 2018.

Now, five years on, she’s still a donor, with a focus on childhood cancer and an eye to the future.

The Lorden family are survivors and thanks to her generosity, Ann Lorden is doing her bit so many more families facing cancer will one day be able to say the same.