'So much joy': Janey Godley awarded honorary degree as she receives end-of-life care

Daughter thanks institution for bringing her mother “joy in the final beats of her life”

Comedian Janey Godley has been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow while she is receiving palliative care for cancer.

The 63-year-old’s daughter, fellow comedian and actor Ashley Storrie, shared photographs on social media of her mother holding the certificate, saying the honour had brought Godley “so much joy in the final beats of her life”.

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Ms Storrie wrote: “Thank you @UofGlasgow for bestowing upon my mum the honorary degree of doctor of the University of Glasgow. This has brought her so much joy in the final beats of her life. Janey is so honoured, and I am so immensely proud of her. Congratulations Doctor Godley.”

Comedian Janey Godley with her honorary degree from the Univeristy of Glasgow as she receives end-of-life careComedian Janey Godley with her honorary degree from the Univeristy of Glasgow as she receives end-of-life care
Comedian Janey Godley with her honorary degree from the Univeristy of Glasgow as she receives end-of-life care | Ashley Storrie/Instagram

Ms Storrie is the writer and star of the BBC comedy Dinosaur. She recently shared the moment she told her mother she had been nominated for a Bafta Scotland award for the show.

Last month, Ms Godley called off a coming UK tour after being advised to stop performing while she undergoes cancer treatment.

She said it had been “really difficult” for her to admit she was unable to work due to the impact of chemotherapy, which she said was “absolutely kicking me to bits”.

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Ms Godley, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three years ago, said it had been hard for her to accept the run of planned shows would have to be pulled because “being a comedian is the only thing that makes me feel alive”.

She said she was on the second course of chemotherapy since the summer due to the spread of cancer and felt like she was “putting sandbags up to hold the water back.”

However, Ms Godley added she was intending to continue with the treatment to try to “hold back the tide”.

Janey Godley with her certificate from the University of GlasgowJaney Godley with her certificate from the University of Glasgow
Janey Godley with her certificate from the University of Glasgow | Ashley Storrie/Instagram

An official announcement on the cancellation of the tour said she had been advised by her doctors to “stop work for the foreseeable future”.

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In a video message recorded for her fans, Ms Godley said: “At the start of the year, I was on immunotherapy. I felt great on it and managed to do two tours.

“But as the summer advanced, chemotherapy had to be introduced because my tumour marker started to go up and the cancer metastasized, which basically means it spread into my liver and my kidney. There are wee bits on my lungs and some on my lymph nodes.

“I had to go onto chemotherapy. That didn't work. I'm not onto another chemotherapy just now and it's really kicking me. Because of that, it means that I can't do the tour.

"I want everybody to know hard it is for me to accept that I can't work. Working, to me, is life. Being a comedian is the only thing that makes me feel alive. But this chemo is absolutely kicking me to bits.”

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