A TERMINALLY-ILL gran has made raising cash for cancer research her final goal.

Josie Stephenson, 72, has organised two screenings of the film the Bucket List, about two men who draw up a list of things to do before they die.

The former journalist, who has two children and six grandchildren, is hoping the screenings will raise £2,000 for ovarian cancer research at Essex County Hospital in Colchester.

Mrs Stephenson was diagnosed with the disease while visiting her son Michael in New Zealand in January.

She said: “My diagnosis came completely out of the blue. I was fit and active, but when I got to New Zealand I couldn’t stay awake.

“I thought it was jet lag and I went to see a GP, who simply by feeling me was able to tell me I had ovarian cancer. They doubted I would get home alive.”

She returned to the UK and initially succeeded in fighting it off, but it returned in April.

She is on her second course of chemotherapy, which involves going to the Mary Barron Suite at Essex County Hospital every three weeks.

The money raised from the film screenings will help the hospital, in Lexden Road, pay for trials of a drug which could detect ovarian cancer at an earlier stage.

She has already raised £3,500.

Mrs Stephenson said: “My main goal is to raise as much money as I can in the time I have left.

“The cost of testing this drug is nothing compared with the money the NHS could save.

“Ovarian cancer gets very little in the way of publicity, but it affects 6,500 to 7,000 women every year and is known as the silent killer. I don’t want to die. I’m 72 and I would have loved to have gone on to 80. ”

Mrs Stephenson chose to screen the Bucket List to inspire other people affected by cancer.

She said: “This is a terrible thing to happen and you can think of nothing else at first. But life is so important and you must live it to the very end.

The film will be shown at Sudbury’s Quay Theatre on Tuesday, September 27, at 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 each and are available by calling 01787 374745.