Lucy Bannister began her journey as a student midwife at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) in September 2014. Lucy worked hard to succeed in her studies and clinical placements, and was instrumental in the creation of the midwifery society, CCSU MidSoc. Lucy was innovative and believed in owning her learning, but also that peer learning offered so much. She put her beliefs into practice and dedicated her time to supporting other students.
I first met Lucy before my first hospital placement. Lucy was in her second year, and took the time to listen to my questions, offer advice and settle my nerves with her kind and reassuring words. It was clear that Lucy was an extraordinary woman and the type of midwife I wanted to emulate. My feelings were confirmed when I was fortunate enough to witness Lucy attend a birth. Her ability, confidence and way of being ‘with woman’ made it immediately apparent that she would make an incredible midwife.
Lucy's caring and supportive personality led her to pioneer a peer mentorship scheme within MidSoc that aimed to support new student midwives by ‘buddying’ them up with a second- or third-year student mentor. This idea soon became invaluable to student midwives at CCCU, and Lucy took on the role of coordinator alongside her studies.
Lucy began feeling unwell at the start of her third year and documented her illness through a blog, ‘Stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer are not the words you imagine to hear at 33 years old!’ (Bannister, 2017a). The diagnosis was devastating. Lucy began an intensive course of chemotherapy and dealt with numerous setbacks, including reactions to the chemotherapy drugs, A&E visits and emergency surgery. Lucy regularly updated her blog, which was followed intently by many, and remained extremely positive, seizing every opportunity to spend time with her loved ones. In September 2017, Lucy and her mum, Sue, organised a coffee morning, raising more than £2500 for Macmillan Cancer Support. After a trip abroad, Lucy deteriorated very quickly, and passed away on 16 October 2017 at the age of 33. More than 400 people attended Lucy's funeral, a true reflection of the incredible impact that Lucy had made on so many.
Lucy has left a legacy that will enrich the experience of future midwives. Her buddy scheme was designed to provide support, encouragement and empowerment to students at CCCU, supported by evidence that peer mentorship improves learning, enhances the university experience, and improves the transition from student to midwife (McKellar and Kempster, 2017; Fisher and Stanyer, 2018). As well as supporting mentees, mentorship is known to improve mentors' communication and leadership skills (Hogan et al, 2017). Since Lucy passed away, the scheme was renamed ‘Bannister Buddies’ in her honour. Bannister Buddies now has 136 members, hosts networking events for mentors and mentees, and will continue to support many more first-year student midwives (Carragher and McGaughey, 2016).
In November 2017, Lucy won the Dean's Shared Purpose Student Award at CCCU, and in December 2017, CCSU MidSoc hosted its first charity ball in Lucy's memory, raising £3164 for Cancer Research UK and Sands UK. We made sure the night was a true reflection of Lucy, filling it with love, laughter and lots of dancing! Lucy's family's wish now is to highlight the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, especially among young people, where rates have increased by 20% (Cancer Research UK, 2018).
Lucy was devastated that she could not complete the final part of her midwifery degree (Bannister, 2017b), and wanted nothing more than to be able to join her friends and colleagues at their graduation ceremony, where she was posthumously awarded BSc (Hons) First Class.
The enormity of the loss felt by Lucy's family, friends and colleagues cannot be expressed. Lucy was kind, loyal and loving and the most dedicated and passionate midwifery student that I had the pleasure of knowing. Lucy leaves behind a legacy for new students and proud, fond memories for those who knew her.