The true story of a remarkable life - and a death deferred. Siobhán was a Belfast girl from a working class family who grew up to become a university professor and world-renowned authority on English and Irish literature. In 2000, Siobhán Kilfeather was diagnosed with terminal cancer. By then she was married and a mother of two young children. In February 2000 she embarked on a pilgrimage to Lourdes and through the power of prayer she made a pact with the Virgin Mary - a mother to a mother - Siobhán asked for more time so that her children could grown to an age where they would know and remember her. Three days later she checked into the Royal Marsden Hospital in London for a course of radiotherapy.

Suffering from cancerous melanoma the surgeon was amazed when her x-ray showed that the cancer in her lungs had gone, any treatment was no-longer needed. Seven years later the cancer returned. But Siobhán died peacefully with the knowledge that her time had come.

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