The mum of a Manchester University graduate has paid a touching tribute to her daughter following her death from brain cancer aged 23. Nicola Nuttall said her daughter Laura 'never gave in' adding 'she squeezed more in to her 23 years and five months than most people do in a lifetime'.
Laura was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme - an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer - after a routine eye test in 2018. After being told she only had 12 months to live, she went on to complete a 'bucket list' of goals including graduating to presenting the BBC weather forecast and raising thousands for brain cancer charities.
Paying tribute on Facebook Laura's mum Nicola wrote: "Please don't say she lost her battle, Laura was a taekwondo black-belt and she would hate that, she never gave in. She called this a 'plot twist' and she looked the disease in the eye with her infamous steely gaze.
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"She squeezed more in to her 23 years and five months than most people do in a lifetime. A light that burns so brightly can only burn for half the time.
"I'm hoping that one day we'll meet again, that she'll be sat at the top of the ladder in the enchanted wood, excited to tell me about the land at the top of the magic faraway tree. It has been the honour and privilege of my life to be Laura's mum."
As part of her bucket list Laura also went fishing with Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer, met Johnny Marr and watched Fleabag being performed live on stage. In 2021, comedian Peter Kay came out of retirement to raise money for her treatment, and hosted two live Q&As in her honour.
Following her diagnosis, Laura had to drop out of university in London and was forced to put her life on hold while she bravely endured a craniotomy to remove the largest of eight tumours. She then started a gruelling programme of radiotherapy and chemotherapy before her family discovered an innovative new treatment was available in Germany.
With the help of donations from friends, family and an online fundraiser, Laura was able to start the immunotherapy. She had to travel to Cologne every six weeks for the treatment, which was made even more difficult by coronavirus restrictions.
However, she responded so well that she was able to restart her studies at The University of Manchester. Despite travelling back and forth to Germany, undergoing more surgery, working as an ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity and helping out in her community, she graduated from her politics, philosophy and economics degree last summer with proud mum Nicola, sister Grace and dad Mark by her side.
Nicola said at the time that seeing her graduate was incredible after being told Laura only had a life expectancy of around a year and wouldn't be going back to university at all, and that it was a real celebration of her tenacity. Laura, from Barrowford in Lancashire, continued raising money and awareness for brain charities, as well as promoting the research being undertaken at The University of Manchester’s Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre.
Sadly, her cancer progressed quickly last autumn, and the family decided to bring forward their festive celebrations to early November to ensure Laura would be able to enjoy one last Christmas. Despite the cancer progressing, Laura defied expectations once again and was able to fight on until the early hours of today (Monday) when she passed away surrounded by her loved ones.
Professor Jackie Carter, Academic Lead for EDI Disabilities at the University of Manchester said: "The thoughts of myself and everyone at the university are with Laura's parents Nicola and Mark and her sister Grace at this incredibly difficult time. She was an incredible and spirited young woman.
"With her treatment, she defied all the odds after her diagnosis to complete her studies and graduate last summer. I got to know Laura and her amazing family well during her time here, as my own son has incurable brain cancer. I'll never forget her telling me when we were raising money together at Manchester Pride that she wanted people to know who she was as a person, and see her determination, rather than just being seen as someone with cancer.
"Laura will always have a very special place in our university's collective memory."
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