Member's statement: Female Adnexal Tumour of Probable Wolffian Origin: Nicola Crymble
Member's statement by Ms Diane Forsythe on .
- MLA
- Ms Diane Forsythe
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 19 October 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Female Adnexal Tumour of Probable Wolffian Origin: Nicola Crymble
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5795351
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I wish to raise awareness of a rare type of cancer that affects a woman in my constituency, Nicola Crymble. I had not heard of it before and apologise if I do not pronounce it correctly. Nicola has a female adnexal tumour of probable Wolffian origin, which is abbreviated to "FATWO". That type of cancer grows from a tiny amount of leftover tissue from before birth, usually beside the womb. Most of the doctors who have treated Nicola had never seen such a case; in fact, only 150 cases have been recorded worldwide. There is no proven treatment and no clinical trial, so Nicola Crymble's family is asking the public to help them to find answers, to raise awareness and to appeal to anyone who has studied it or seen it anywhere to please reach out. Nicola is 43. She is a devoted mum to Rebecca, Rachel and Hope. She is married to Andrew and is at the heart of the family. She was a classroom assistant — a job that she always wanted — and, for years, has poured herself into mission work in Kenya. For the past two years, however, she has had hospital appointments almost every week in Craigavon, Newry and Belfast. Through all that, she gets up every day for her girls. Nicola's husband, Andrew, has launched a Facebook page called 'Nicola's Journey'. If anyone wishes to follow that, I would encourage them to do so; I shared it this week. They have a £5 challenge on GoFundMe, asking people to give £5, share the page and nominate friends to do the same. The funding will support Nicola's three daughters, explore further treatment options and therapies and raise awareness of this rare form of cancer. It will help Nicola fulfil a few personal wishes, support a local charity and the work in Kenya to which Nicola has given so much over the years. The family is making the appeal because the life insurance that they put in place for Nicola is no longer there: when her insurer closed, the policy passed to a new company and was unable to be furthered. On Tuesday 13 October, Nicola began chemotherapy. She will have chemotherapy every three weeks, with a scan after every three cycles. Her doctors have been honest about the aim being to control the cancer for as long as possible, because it is so rare that there is little research to guide her care. Nicola's husband, Andrew, has said, "There's no road map for this". Every decision about Nicola's care is being made with little to go on. We all believe, however, that, somewhere out there, there is a woman who has had this, a family who has gone through it or a doctor or researcher who has studied it and who may be able to help. I make this appeal to raise awareness. I ask everyone to keep Nicola and her family in their thoughts and prayers. Please follow and support this and raise awareness.
500 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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