Complex sentence: In December 2003, Lord Sheppard announced that he had been suffering from colorectal cancer for the previous two years, and he died on 5 March 2005, the day before what would have been his 76th birthday.
Split into simpler sentences: In December 2003, Sheppard announced that he had been suffering from colorectal cancer for the previous two years. He died on 5 March 2005, the day before what would have been his 76th birthday.