Victim of America's 'CANCER COLLEGE': Widower reveals how late wife, 35, was ... trends now

It was meant to be the happiest moment of her life - Sarah Glad was pregnant after more than a year trying. 

But never did she expect that, within a few months, she'd also be dealt the most terrifying of moments: a diagnosis of stage four, aggressive breast cancer. 

The civil servant, from South Carolina, died less than two years later, aged 35, leaving behind her new toddler son and husband.  

But according to her family, Ms Glad's death could have been prevented.

They now believe she was poisoned by one of the college campus buildings that has since been closed because it contains dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.

The specific structure indicated is Poe Hall - a department building which held education and psychology classes for 4,000 students.

'The last two years of her undergrad degree were at Poe Hall,' Sarah's husband, Robbie Glad, 40, a general manager, told DailyMail.com. 'Then almost 10 years later, she battled cancer for two years. It's hard to watch your loved one go through that.'

Speaking of the heartbreaking timing of her diagnosis, Mr Glad said his wife was determined to survive long enough to become a mother.

He said: 'She was not going to sacrifice the baby... one of our goals was for her to be a mother and she was about to be one. She wasn't going to let cancer take that away from her.'

Mrs Glad was one of dozens of students, staff and alumni who have been diagnosed with cancers and other diseases linked to the university building on the North Carolina State University site.

Subsequent investigations found dangerously high levels of a poisonous, cancer-causing substance called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) detected in several of the building's rooms.

Studies show that PCBs suppress the immune system, allowing cancers to develop and spread. 

In five areas, PCB levels were found to be more than 38 times the Environmental Protection Agency's safety limit.

The finding, coupled with the 152 lawsuits from patients claiming the structure caused their sickness, led to the closure of the building late last year.

Mr and Mrs Glad both attended NC State university, but did not meet until a mutual friend introduced them after they had both left.

Mr Glad says, on first impressions, he thought she was 'a true Southern belle'.

'I can't say enough about how thoughtful she was for other people.' 

Mrs Glad dreamed of using her degree in political science and communications from North Carolina State University to run for office.

'My wife was a very beautiful woman, but she was even more beautiful on the inside,' Mr Glad said.

Poe Hall was constructed in 1971, when PCBs were commonly used in industrial products like oils, insulators, and electric appliances such as TV sets, lighting, and refrigerators. 

PCBs, including those used to build Poe Hall, were largely mass produced by agricultural giant Monsanto until they were banned in 1979 amid concerns that they harmed humans and the environment.

The most common building materials where PCBs lurk are resin and varnish used in tiles and carpets as well as other adhesives and paints.

Around 15 years after they graduated, in 2017, Mr and Mrs Glad got married. 

And in the same year, Mrs Glad noticed a lump on her left breast. Despite expressing concerns with her physician, it was never properly investigated as Mrs Glad's health insurance deemed her too young for them to cover the cost of the biopsy.

When she got pregnant in 2022 and her breasts grew, the lump did too, and her insurance finally approved a biopsy.

But just over three months into her pregnancy, Mrs Glad was diagnosed aged 33 with stage four triple negative breast cancer.

Her oncologist gave her the option to abort the baby, but Mrs Glad did three rounds of chemo while pregnant and gave birth to a baby bon in August 2023.

A month after their son was born, Mrs Glad was due to restart chemotherapy, but she suffered a 'massive brain seizure' and the couple were given the devastating news that the cancer had spread to her brain.