Kelly Margaret Wishart was born on 23 June 1978.  Along with her older brother Scott, and sister Sara, she grew up in Tonbridge, Kent.  Of the three children she was the most outgoing, and from an early age spent a great deal of time dressing up and reinacting scenes from television shows and Hollywood movies.  Up until 1994 she led a normal life, attending Cage Green Junior School and later Hugh Christie Technical College, both of which are in Tonbridge.

On 10 February 1994 Kelly was diagnosed as having Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.  Over the next two years she received the full course of chemo and radiotherapy and by April 1996 was given the ‘all clear’ from the disease.  During this period her life changed quite dramatically and throughout all the ups and downs of treatment she bravely tackled everything head on, remaining extraordinarily cheerful and positive about what must have been a pretty soul destroying situation.

After the completion of treatment Kelly began to rebuild what was left of her teenage years.  She turned eighteen and took her A-levels, gained a part-time job and passed her driving test.  By the end of August 1996 fate decided that she should suffer a relapse and once again she returned to a world populated by hospitals, chemotherapy and extreme boredom.

Early on during this next round of treatment it was decided that the way ahead would be for Kelly to undergo a bone-marrow transplant during the following spring.  Echoing a routine honed over the previous two years, Kelly and her family made the most of their time spent outside of the hospital and in early 1997 they managed to spend a few days together at Euro Disney near Paris.

Towards the end of April, Kelly underwent a course of full body radiation at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London before being transferred to Kings College Hospital for the transplant.

Incredibly weak from radiation and the combined effects of over three years of chemical invasion, Kelly’s frail body succumbed to an infection that tore through her, and ultimately ended her life.  The cruel irony is that Kelly’s most endearing attribute – her big heart, was the one thing that was physically unable to save a tragically short life.

Kelly died in the small hours of Wednesday 7 May 1997.  The void that she once filled within the lives of her friends and family is omnipresent; the energy that burned so brightly for a brief moment in time will never be forgotten.

This site is dedicated to her memory.

Scott Wishart, April 2001