A close friend of Pandora Cooper-Key, the sister of Cressida Bonas, who died from a rare sarcoma cancer last year, will run the London Marathon in her memory and to raise funds for research into the cancer which claimed her life.
When her friend Pandora Cooper-Key died in 2024, it was the end of a relationship that had lasted decades for Fiona McAlpine. Both had suffered from the same incredibly rare cancer, sarcoma, as young women, their shared experience of the disease forging a deep connection. Sarcomas account for less than 1% of all cancer diagnoses.
As a teenager, Fiona had pains in her knee and a slight swelling. The pain was not constant but, if she knocked her knee, it hurt very badly. For about five years, every time she spoke to a doctor, she was told it was nothing to worry about. She said: ‘I was dismissed but it was my boyfriend at the time who kept telling me that something wasn’t right.’
Fiona had broken her leg age 14 while skiing in Austria. A doctor who was a family friend had operated on her knee after the accident and, in December 1995, decided to open up her knee to see what was going on.
Fiona and her family expected it to be a simple procedure, but the doctor found a tumour and removed it immediately. In January 1996, the family was given the shocking news that Fiona, then 22, had synovial sarcoma. There are an average of 79 cases of synovial sarcoma diagnosed every year in England. She then had a second operation by a sarcoma surgeon to remove more tissue.
Lymph nodes were also removed from her groin but she was not given chemotherapy. Happily, her cancer did not reoccur, but the experience left a mark on her psychologically.
‘It had a horrendous impact on me as a young person. Of course, there is never a good age to have cancer, but the late teens and early 20s are a particularly difficult age to go through it. I felt incredibly isolated, and it took me two years to get back on track. But I decided that this wasn’t going to be my life.’
She says her experience gave her a ‘pretty remarkable attitude’ and it has turned out to be ‘one of the most empowering things to happen to me’.
Fiona moved to New York and began a career in advertising and publishing before returning to the UK to work for the Sunday Times.
Fiona and Pandora’s paths had crossed as young women with a number of friends in common. Then, there was an amazing coincidence. Fiona, while she was being treated for sarcoma, was sitting in a corridor waiting for a hospital appointment when Pandora, also at the hospital as a patient, walked out of a room.
Pandora went on to have a variety of cancers, including being diagnosed with sarcoma six weeks after the birth of her first child. She had Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which increases the risk of various types of cancer.
The pair then became very close. Fiona said: ‘She was an amazing friend, she never complained despite the different types of cancer she had. She was always most magnanimous.’
Fiona described Pandora as ‘the most unique, graceful, strong, kind and loving friend, mother, sister, aunt and daughter’.
Pandora died at the age of 51 in July 2024. ‘The last time I saw her, she was fragile and tired, but I didn’t think it would be the last time I would see her. She faced her future in the most dignified way in the face of so much adversity, always smiling, never complaining. I miss her every day,’ said Fiona, 50, from Oxfordshire who is married with four children aged 20, 17, 15 and 11.
On 27 April, Fiona will be running the London Marathon – her first ever marathon – for charity Sarcoma UK, as is her brother Angus Henderson. ‘This is completely out of my comfort zone – and if my darling Pandora were here, she would think I was absolutely potty. From 28 April, I will never run again!
‘My sarcoma diagnosis was a life-changing moment that introduced me to a world I never expected, nor wanted to be part of – a world where sarcoma is rare, underfunded and often misunderstood. I was fortunate to receive treatment but so many others continue to face this battle with fewer options and less hope than they deserve.’
Kerry Reeves-Kneip, Sarcoma UK’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, said: ‘Fiona and Pandora’s story epitomises the deeply personal nature of our fight against sarcoma. Behind every statistic are real lives, profound friendships and immeasurable loss. Rare cancers like sarcoma have been chronically underfunded, leaving too many families to face devastating outcomes. Our research aims to transform these stories from tales of loss to narratives of hope. When we invest in understanding these complex diseases, we’re not just funding science – we’re preserving futures, protecting loved ones, and ensuring that people like Pandora aren’t stolen from us decades too soon. Stories like Fiona’s marathon run don’t just raise funds; they shine a vital light on the human cost of our current limitations in cancer research.’
To donate to Fiona, go to Sarcoma UK: Fi’s page
