A beloved mum and grandmother died aged 51 just two months after doctors discovered her excruciating headaches were being caused by brain tumours.
Lorraine Woods, from Preston, passed away on April 3 after the cancer was found to have spread throughout her body, with tumours on her liver, kidneys and one lung.
Her heartbroken daughter, Chantelle Hewitson, 32, described Lorraine as a "really fun, really bubbly" person who "helped so many people", reports LancsLive.
Lorraine, a mum of two and gran of two, five year old Kyla and eight year old Reece, was initially diagnosed with COPD two years ago and began suffering severe migraines.
She was rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke after collapsing in February, where her brain tumours were then found.
Chantelle said that a week later, her mum was told that the tumours were cancerous, with the primary cancer believed thought to be in the lung with other tumours on the liver and kidneys.
She said her lovely mum suffered weakness down one side of her body, horrendous headaches, and was placed on palliative care. Lorraine was given just six to eight weeks to live.
Lorraine was given six to eight weeks to live. But due to Covid restrictions in place at the time at the hospital, she was only allowed one visitor for one hour a day until five days before she died.
Chantelle told Lancs Live: “She was really fun, really bubbly. She was always there to help other people other than herself, and she was loved by many, many people. She helped so many people, with giving lots of advice on mental health and she was just a really bubbly, fun character.”
Thankfully, in the five days before she sadly passed away, the ‘amazing’ Ribblesdale ward where she was staying allowed her to have visitors.
This meant that she passed away in the presence of daughter Chantelle, 32, and son Robert, 30, while her sisters Denise Whitaker and Michelle Partington were also allowed to spend time with her during her final days.
Chantelle said: “At the time when she was first in hospital, she was only allowed one visitor per day, and that’s all she could have during that time.
"She was literally there, knowing that she was going to be dying and on her own, but then in the last five days, the Ribblesdale Ward were amazing, and let me and my brother and my mum's two sisters stay overnight there; we were so lucky that they were so good with us.
“My mum had deteriorated pretty quickly, and in the first week she was on her own with only one visitor for an hour a day. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been.”
Chantelle, mum of eight year old Reece, who works as a make up artist and for a cleaning company, said: “She was the kindest person who gave of herself to others. We never had much money as a family but we weren’t driven by that; love and time together were always so important to her and to us.”
Her family are raising money to give her the send off that she deserves, and to view the family’s Go Fund me page, click here.
