A charity volunteer whose husband was awarded an OBE for his exceptional service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary has revealed how a catastrophic brain tumour claimed his life less than a week after diagnosis. Phillipa Anders, 52, told how her husband-of-18-years, Captain Rob Anders, 49, died just six days after being given 12-18 months to live.
Still coming to terms with his death, with the help of her children, Nell, 17, and Will, 16, Phillipa, of Rendlesham, east Suffolk, said: “He was over 6ft tall and weighed around 16 stone. Yet, this brain tumour took him down within a week. He didn’t stand a chance.”.
Rob, who served for 30 years in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, rising from a deckhand at 17 to the deputy commodore – second in charge of the entire fleet – at the time of his death, was awarded an OBE in March 2020 for leading a rescue mission following a hurricane in the Bahamas.
