Dolphin dream fulfilled for terminally ill patient

When Mary Millmoor's cancer took over her body, she thought she would never be able to fulfil her dream of swimming with dolphins.

But over the past week, the 48-year-old from Hartlepool, England, did so twice over, at the Mediterraneo Park in Bahar ic-Caghaq.

She will be returning home tomorrow "on a high" after her week in Malta.

"The trip has tired me out and I look forward to going back but the experience has been wonderful and it has all been worthwhile," she said.

The adventure was made possible through fund-raising activities by her former colleagues at the University Hospital of Hartlepool and a four-day coast-to-coast cycle trip, from one end of England to the other, organised by a relative. Ms Millmoor was forced to give up her job earlier this year and her visit to Malta was her first. She described the island as a beautiful country and chose to come here after seeing the photographs of a friend who had been here on holiday, during which she swam with the dolphins.

She obtained her doctor's approval to visit but he advised her to do it this year and not wait any longer.

Ms Millmoor, who even has a dolphin tattooed on her belly, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. Last January she was told that it had spread to her bones and later it also spread to her eyes and liver.

She has already partially lost her sight from one eye and has been told there is no hope of recovery.

However, the dolphins yesterday did their bit to alleviate some of the pain.