A woman who was abducted as a baby from a U.K. hospital has died at 30 following a brain cancer diagnosis.
Abbie Humphries was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be a nurse three hours after she was born at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England, in July 1994. She was found and returned to her family 17 days later, per the The Nottingham Post.
Humphries’s husband Karl Sundgren announced on Facebook on Monday, Dec 9, that she had died in New Zealand after being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020.
“Our beautiful Abbie peacefully passed away yesterday, surrounded by loved ones,” he wrote. “She fought so hard with so much strength and grace for over 4 years and can finally rest.”
According to her Facebook page, Humphries lived with her husband in Auckland, New Zealand. She moved to the country with her family as a 10-year-old, according to The Nottingham Post.
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Alongside his message, Sundgren shared photos of Humphries which included an image of the pair walking down the aisle on their wedding day. Other photographs included scenes of her posing with family members and throwback snaps of Humphries as a young child with her parents.
In July 1994, Humphries was abducted by 22-year-old former dental nurse Julie Kelley, who had recently been pregnant at the time. She was later found at a property in the Nottingham village of Wollaton and returned to her parents, Roger and Karen Humphries, the BBC reported.
Kelley later pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and was put on probation for three years after she was diagnosed with a personality disorder, per the outlet.
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Humphries was not told about the adduction as a young child and only discovered she’d been kidnapped at age 10 after she found press cuttings about the incident, reported The Nottingham Post and BBC.
“That’s when I realized what a huge deal it was,” she told the outlet at age 16. “But it didn’t stir up any emotions of horror or anything. To be honest, I thought it was rather cool.”
“My parents told me all about it as I grew up, but not all in one go. It came out in bits and pieces,” she explained.
Abbie Sundgren/Facebook
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Humphries was diagnosed with a 5cm (2 inch) brain tumor in November 2020, the BBC reported.
Speaking about her diagnosis in 2021, Humphries told The Mail on Sunday, “There is no point feeling angry or blaming anything. We have just had a terrible amount of bad luck. I usually choose to look at the positive side of everything. It makes everyone feel better,” reported the BBC.
A memorial is being held for Humphries in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, Dec. 14.
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