The word inspirational is often thrown around so much it becomes almost meaningless, but I’m lucky enough to have truly inspirational people in my life to whom I have dedicated some of my books. My last novel, A Winter’s Wish for the Cornish Midwife, was dedicated to my good friend and real-life midwife, Beverley Hills, who recently proved how amazing she is when she delivered my gorgeous grandson.
Dedicating A Spring Surprise for the Cornish Midwife to another friend, Danni Starley, I could have listed countless reasons. When I first met Danni she was a fostering social worker. As she walked into the room, and started talking about fostering and the children being cared for, it was like a bright light had been switched on. She had so much passion, with a vision for creating the best outcomes for children that was both transformational and truly inspirational.
As I got to know Danni better, I discovered that this desire to make a difference to the lives of children wasn’t just her job, it was who she was to the core. It was also how she lived her life and completed her family, with her wife, Rosie, and her two gorgeous boys, Oscar and Charlie.
Anyone who knew Danni will say she made you want to be a better person, but she’s an incredibly hard act to live up to! When Danni was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, she faced it head on, not just through gruelling rounds of treatment, but also working to raise the profile of triple-negative breast cancer and tirelessly fundraising for more research. When I was diagnosed with cancer, seven years before Danni, she was one of the first people to reach out, but it was all I could do to get through each day. Not Danni, though. She was soon making videos, showing the world that she was grabbing every opportunity and even doing her infamous huff-puffing videos around her local park to try and get her fitness back.
Even when the cancer tragically became terminal, Danni never seemed to have a ‘why me’ moment. Instead she continued to follow her dream of developing a model of therapeutic foster care that will transform young people’s lives, supporting her amazing son, Oscar, to raise so much money for charity that they were invited to meet Prince Charles, and most of all spending every moment she could with the people she loved, especially Rosie and their boys.
When I wrote the dedication to Danni, I so hoped she’d beat the odds and be here to see the book released. She never understood why so many of us told her she was inspirational, but the truth is that word was made for Danni.
A percentage of the royalties for A Spring Surprise for the Cornish Midwife will go to Breast Cancer Now in Danni’s memory and if you’d like to make a donation too, you can follow this link: Breast Cancer Now | The research and care charity
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